by Michelle Kadarusman
Pajama Press
4/28/2020, hardcover
SKU: 9781772780543
From Governor General's Literary Award finalist Michelle Kadarusman comes a novel about a young violinist who discovers her mother's family secretly harbor a sanctuary for extinct Tasmanian tigers in the remote Australian rainforest
Middle-schooler Louisa wants to spend the summer practicing violin for a place in the youth symphony, but is instead sent to the Tasmanian rainforest camp of her Australian relatives. There she learns that her family secretly protects the last of the supposedly extinct Tasmanian tigers. When an encroaching mining operation threatens the hidden sanctuary, Louisa realizes her music can help.
A moving coming-of-age story wrapped up in the moss, leaves, and blue gums of the Tasmanian rainforest where, hidden under giant ferns, crouches its most beloved, and lost, creature.
Target age: 10 to 13
Reviews:
"Incorporating themes of diversity and environmental preservation into her adventure, Kadarusman (Girl of the Southern Sea) creates a story straight out of adolescent daydreams....Compassionate and endearing, Music for Tigers hits all the right notes."--Shelf Awareness Starred Review
"A stirring tale that will inspire young readers to take to heart our collective responsibility as stewards of the planet, Music for Tigers is a coming-of-age story with a conservation twist."--Foreword Reviews Starred Review
"In her third outstanding middle-grade novel - after Theory of Hummingbirds and Girl of the Southern Sea - Kadarusman continues to be a clear, insightful, and humourous guide to unfamiliar experiences and settings, and in this case species. She's unearthed the fascinating history of an extinct animal and entwined it with a heartfelt story of a dedicated family whose good deeds have run up against the ever-encroaching, commerce-driven modern world."--Quill & Quire Starred Review
"Throughout Music for Tigers, Kadarusman provides interesting information about Tasmania's Tarkine rainforest, its original human inhabitants and the variety of wildlife that has lived there, before and after European settlers destroyed a way of life."--Washington Post KidsPost
About the Author:
Michelle Kadarusman grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and has also lived in Indonesia and Canada. Her middle-grade novel The Theory of Hummingbirds was a finalist for the Forest of Reading Silver Birch Award, the MYRCA Sundogs Award, and the SYRCA Diamond Willow Award. Her 2019 novel Girl of the Southern Sea is a Junior Library Guild selection. Michelle lives in Toronto, Canada, and is looking forward to soon spending more time in Australia.