If you trap a tiger
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Description
Book Introduction
“Grandma, tell me a story.” Grandma smiled, took a deep breath, and began her story in the Korean style of “Once upon a time.” “Once upon a time, when tigers walked like people…” Lily, a quiet Asian girl, faces off against a ‘magic tiger’ to save her ailing grandmother! The 2021 Newbery Medal winner, ‘When You Trap a Tiger’ (original title: 2020), written by Korean-American female author Tae Keller (27), has been published by Dolbegae. As in her debut work, The Science of Fragile Things, which was already published in Korea, Tae Keller presents a Korean-American girl who embarks on an adventure for her beloved family. Lily's family moves from California to Washington state to care for her ailing grandmother. One day, a tiger that seemed to have jumped out of Grandma's story "The Sun and the Moon" appears in front of Lily and makes a tempting offer. If you return what your grandmother stole a long time ago, I will make her better. Lily starts running with all her might. To save my grandmother, to protect my beloved family. But a tiger wouldn't readily grant a person's wish! "Trap a Tiger" is the story of Lily, who defines herself as an "invisible person" and is called "Jo-a-yeo" (a quiet Asian girl) by her older sister. Through a tug-of-war with a "magic tiger," she discovers the courage to face the pain, sadness, anger, desire, and difficult truths hidden deep within her heart. On the one hand, it speaks to the power of story, the magic of family, the exploration of self-identity, and strong Korean women. |
index
If you trap a tiger, it will be 9
Author's Note 325
Acknowledgments 331
Author's Note 325
Acknowledgments 331
Detailed image
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Into the book
“You are talking.”
I whisper.
And I add without realizing it.
“And she’s a woman.”
I immediately shut my mouth tightly.
How absurd that sounds.
The tiger laughs.
“It’s always like this.
“Just because I heard a story about a male tiger, does that mean all tigers are male? How can humans be so pathetic?”
--- p.114
This giant cat continues to speak.
“The magic of storytelling is powerful, enough to change people.
And when you lock down a story, its magic grows even greater.
And sometimes it hurts.
The magic turns into a kind of poison.
Do you understand?”
I refuse to answer.
I won't let the tiger entangle lies in my heart.
“If you, Lily, let go of the stories your grandmother has kept locked up, she will get better.
If those stars stay trapped, Grandma will get sick.
Those stars are your grandmother… … ”
The tiger bares its teeth.
“……I’ll swallow you whole.”
--- p.116
In 5th grade astronomy class, we learned about stars, galaxies, and black holes.
But my favorite was Supernova.
An exploding star, bigger than we can imagine.
Infinitely great power.
Like the sun swallowing itself whole.
Right here, right now, I'm making it myself.
It hits the wall and shatters, and the blue glass jar goes supernova.
I can't keep myself suppressed inside.
All that fear, all that anger, all that lost hope… … .
--- p.284
“I’ve spent so much time and effort hiding my heart my whole life.
I was scared of tigers, but I was more scared of the tiger inside me.
I thought I should hide what I said because I'm not good at English.
And I thought I should hide my feelings too, because I felt too much.
And I thought I should hide my story too, because if I told it, I would be like that story forever.”
Grandma takes shallow breaths.
“But because I kept my story hidden, that story consumed me.
So I didn't see any love.
“There is so much love around me.”
--- pp.306~307
“Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is stop running.”
“I’m not afraid of tigers, I’m not afraid of dying, that’s what I’m saying.”
--- p.307
I look at those lights, feeling my heart tighten as if clenching a small fist.
And then the blinking light disappears as if you were closing your eyes.
Something opens inside me.
It's a hole that never existed before.
It is emptiness and loss, but it is also… …space.
A glass jar with an open lid is also a liberation.
I whisper.
And I add without realizing it.
“And she’s a woman.”
I immediately shut my mouth tightly.
How absurd that sounds.
The tiger laughs.
“It’s always like this.
“Just because I heard a story about a male tiger, does that mean all tigers are male? How can humans be so pathetic?”
--- p.114
This giant cat continues to speak.
“The magic of storytelling is powerful, enough to change people.
And when you lock down a story, its magic grows even greater.
And sometimes it hurts.
The magic turns into a kind of poison.
Do you understand?”
I refuse to answer.
I won't let the tiger entangle lies in my heart.
“If you, Lily, let go of the stories your grandmother has kept locked up, she will get better.
If those stars stay trapped, Grandma will get sick.
Those stars are your grandmother… … ”
The tiger bares its teeth.
“……I’ll swallow you whole.”
--- p.116
In 5th grade astronomy class, we learned about stars, galaxies, and black holes.
But my favorite was Supernova.
An exploding star, bigger than we can imagine.
Infinitely great power.
Like the sun swallowing itself whole.
Right here, right now, I'm making it myself.
It hits the wall and shatters, and the blue glass jar goes supernova.
I can't keep myself suppressed inside.
All that fear, all that anger, all that lost hope… … .
--- p.284
“I’ve spent so much time and effort hiding my heart my whole life.
I was scared of tigers, but I was more scared of the tiger inside me.
I thought I should hide what I said because I'm not good at English.
And I thought I should hide my feelings too, because I felt too much.
And I thought I should hide my story too, because if I told it, I would be like that story forever.”
Grandma takes shallow breaths.
“But because I kept my story hidden, that story consumed me.
So I didn't see any love.
“There is so much love around me.”
--- pp.306~307
“Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is stop running.”
“I’m not afraid of tigers, I’m not afraid of dying, that’s what I’m saying.”
--- p.307
I look at those lights, feeling my heart tighten as if clenching a small fist.
And then the blinking light disappears as if you were closing your eyes.
Something opens inside me.
It's a hole that never existed before.
It is emptiness and loss, but it is also… …space.
A glass jar with an open lid is also a liberation.
--- pp.314~315
Publisher's Review
The tiger that appears in this novel has complex meanings.
She is an uncontrollable and scary being who relentlessly pursues Grandma and Lily, but at the same time, she is a savior who encourages Grandma and Lily to walk out of their suffering on their own, and ultimately, she symbolizes the 'free and liberated being' hidden behind the shell of a 'quiet and perfect girl', 'a being who possesses anger and desire and knows how to express it', and further, the true self that Grandma and Lily have been turning away from.
The story unfolds dramatically in a world where reality and fantasy coexist, with the tiger, who was thought to be an enemy, gradually turning out to be an ally, and the 'tiger girl' who had been sleeping inside Lily gradually awakening.
Later in the story, her friend Ricky tells Lily:
“We’re going to have so many adventures, superpowered tiger girl.” The moment she awakened and embraced the tiger sleeping inside her, Lily was no longer invisible, no longer a good girl, no longer a good girl who needed to be taken care of.
She is a 'tiger girl with superpowers'.
Now Lily will not keep her story locked away in her heart.
A new and vast world, filled with more diverse and richer stories, will unfold before Lily.
The author whispers to young readers, "Let them freely enjoy adventures in that exciting world."
Author Tae Keller is the daughter of Nora Okja Keller, author of the 1998 American Book Award-winning novel Comfort Women.
The name 'Tae' is taken from the first letter of the name 'Taem' of his maternal grandmother who immigrated from Korea.
Although it is pronounced closer to 'Tay' locally, it was written as 'Tae Keller' after confirmation by the author.
In the author's note, Tae Keller says he rediscovered the old stories he heard from his grandmother as a child because he wanted to stop describing himself as "only a quarter Korean" and "become fully himself."
The result is this book, "Trap a Tiger."
When I listened to my grandmother's stories, I was neither part white, part Asian, a quarter Korean, nor mixed race.
It was just me, completely.
I felt it in my bones.
Years later, when I left Hawaii for college, I let those stories go.
It wasn't intentional, it just happened that way, as if those stories rolled under my bed and just gathered dust.
Before long, I even forgot that those stories had disappeared from my life.
It wasn't until later in college, when someone asked me if I was Korean, that I realized how much I needed those stories.
“Only a quarter are Korean,” I answered.
As soon as I did it, I felt it was the wrong answer.
When asked if I was Korean, I could always simply say yes.
But from some point on, I started dividing my blood into parts.
I wanted to become a complete, undivided me again, so I looked for those stories again.
_Main text, pages 325-326 (Author's Note)
She is an uncontrollable and scary being who relentlessly pursues Grandma and Lily, but at the same time, she is a savior who encourages Grandma and Lily to walk out of their suffering on their own, and ultimately, she symbolizes the 'free and liberated being' hidden behind the shell of a 'quiet and perfect girl', 'a being who possesses anger and desire and knows how to express it', and further, the true self that Grandma and Lily have been turning away from.
The story unfolds dramatically in a world where reality and fantasy coexist, with the tiger, who was thought to be an enemy, gradually turning out to be an ally, and the 'tiger girl' who had been sleeping inside Lily gradually awakening.
Later in the story, her friend Ricky tells Lily:
“We’re going to have so many adventures, superpowered tiger girl.” The moment she awakened and embraced the tiger sleeping inside her, Lily was no longer invisible, no longer a good girl, no longer a good girl who needed to be taken care of.
She is a 'tiger girl with superpowers'.
Now Lily will not keep her story locked away in her heart.
A new and vast world, filled with more diverse and richer stories, will unfold before Lily.
The author whispers to young readers, "Let them freely enjoy adventures in that exciting world."
Author Tae Keller is the daughter of Nora Okja Keller, author of the 1998 American Book Award-winning novel Comfort Women.
The name 'Tae' is taken from the first letter of the name 'Taem' of his maternal grandmother who immigrated from Korea.
Although it is pronounced closer to 'Tay' locally, it was written as 'Tae Keller' after confirmation by the author.
In the author's note, Tae Keller says he rediscovered the old stories he heard from his grandmother as a child because he wanted to stop describing himself as "only a quarter Korean" and "become fully himself."
The result is this book, "Trap a Tiger."
When I listened to my grandmother's stories, I was neither part white, part Asian, a quarter Korean, nor mixed race.
It was just me, completely.
I felt it in my bones.
Years later, when I left Hawaii for college, I let those stories go.
It wasn't intentional, it just happened that way, as if those stories rolled under my bed and just gathered dust.
Before long, I even forgot that those stories had disappeared from my life.
It wasn't until later in college, when someone asked me if I was Korean, that I realized how much I needed those stories.
“Only a quarter are Korean,” I answered.
As soon as I did it, I felt it was the wrong answer.
When asked if I was Korean, I could always simply say yes.
But from some point on, I started dividing my blood into parts.
I wanted to become a complete, undivided me again, so I looked for those stories again.
_Main text, pages 325-326 (Author's Note)
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Publication date: April 26, 2021
- Page count, weight, size: 336 pages | 446g | 140*210*22mm
- ISBN13: 9791191438024
- ISBN10: 1191438023
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카테고리
korean
korean
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