American Tiger - by Adam Skolnick (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A motherless nine-year-old girl glances out her school bus window and notices a tiger licking its paws behind Target. Nobody else sees it and nobody believes her, not even her father, a local game warden, because it is well known that Bell Tern has an untamed imagination. But evidence mounts and with it, the possibility that Bell is telling the truth and a most unlikely predator could be prowling a seemingly placid suburb of Los Angeles.

Based on true events, rooted in the stunning Southern California landscape, and populated with vivid characters, American Tiger is about more than a frantic tiger hunt. It's about a child's quest for self-discovery, her stoic father's struggle to come to terms with their past, and the innate wildness of every living thing.

Review Quotes

"Fantastic storytelling! Touching, suspenseful--everything we want it to be. I loved the love stories that crisscrossed. It's so tender, but also tense. Just like all love stories."

--Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, City of Girls, and All the Way to the River.

"Gripped me from the first page. Rarely have I read a novel with such an exquisite sense of place. Bell Tern is a wonderful character, but I believed the story because I could see, hear, and smell the gorgeous valley where this narrative takes place. American Tiger will stay with me."

--Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Oprah Book Club pick, Hello Beautiful.

"A truly moving and beautiful novel about a girl and a tiger and what it means to be wild."

--Bonnie Tsui, author of Why We Swim and On Muscle.