Tig

Heather Smith’s newest middle grade story, Tig, is the story of finding home.

Tig and Peter have recently come to live with their Uncle after being abandoned by their mother. Tig is loud about the transition and decides to make things difficult on her new guardians and even comes up with a plan to become a competitive cheese racer. With Peter’s help and the love of her Uncle and his husband, Tig begins to discover more of herself and learns to find safety in her new family.

Heather Smith has a remarkable knack of finding the stories in the world that are beautiful and sad and hopeful and bringing them to readers in a way that feels full of love and safety. Tig and Peter have lived through the most unimaginable situation, living alone in a home abandoned by their mother and scavenging for food wherever they can find it. In this story that is so full of heartbreak, readers can find some hope in the patience and kindness of adults who love and care for their family.

Heartbreakingly, this story would not be unfamiliar to some readers. There will be many readers who will see their own stories reflected back to them. For others, this story will help them to grow compassion and understanding and expand their world view, to understand that everyone is coming to the world in a different way and we truly don’t know everyone’s reality. Heather Smith has a special ability to create some of the saddest stories that I have ever read and makes them accessible to her young readers. 

To add lightness to the heavy weight, adding the element of the cheese rolling championship was a master stroke by Heather Smith. What a fun way to have Tig work through her feelings of anger, sadness and grief than by repeatedly running down a hill trying to outrun a wheel of cheese.