Tig
by Heather Smith
Intermediate, Middle School    Tundra    160 pp.
9/24    9780735267497    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780735267503    $10.99

Eleven-year-old Tig has been abandoned by her mother and has lived for four months on her own, with no money, no food, and no electricity. Now Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny, are at the police station to take her home. Tig has been traumatized by the circumstances of her life: her father died when she was four, her mother used to disappear for days at a time before leaving for good, and her mother’s boyfriend Eddy was abusive. Reflecting on ending up with Uncle Scott and Manny, Tig says, “It’s like how abandoned animals stop trusting humans. They go wild and crazy and when they’re rescued it takes ages for them to calm down, to love and be loved again.” Smith sensitively delineates Tig’s gradual road to recovery and love, and an uneasy one it is: Tig smashes the new television, purposely drops a hammer on Manny’s foot, and tells Uncle Scott his house is a dump and he’s garbage. A major plot twist adds poignancy and drama. Tig does come to love Uncle Scott and Manny, who are steadfast in their love for each other and for her. A good match with other recent stories of abandoned children, such as Rudd’s How to Stay Invisible (rev. 7/23) and Fipps’s And Then, Boom! (rev. 5/24).

From the ">November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.