The Tiger Rising

Enjoyed by readers of age: Around 8 years old

Read the most by: boys and girls

The National Book Award finalist from the best-selling author of Because of Winn-Dixie—now in paperback

Walking through the misty Florida woods one morning, twelve-year-old Rob Horton is stunned to encounter a tiger—a real-life, very large tiger—pacing back and forth in a cage. What's more, on the same extraordinary day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a girl who shows her feelings as readily as Rob hides his. As they learn to trust each other, and ultimately, to be friends, Rob and Sistine prove that some things—like memories, and heartaches, and tigers—can't be locked up forever.