Book Club Guide

When You Trap a Tiger

by Tae Keller · 2020 · Literary Fiction

Key themes

Korean folklore as a living presence — not just a story but a force
A grandmother's illness and the magic that might (or might not) be real
What it means to inherit your family's stories — and their silences

About this book

Lily moves with her family to live with her dying grandmother, and discovers that the magical tiger from her grandmother's Korean folktales may be real — and that returning what it stole could heal her family. Keller's Newbery Medal-winning novel blends Korean folklore with a contemporary story about grief, identity and the stories families pass down.

Published in 2020, When You Trap a Tiger won the Newbery Medal in 2021. Keller has described drawing on Korean folktales her own grandmother told her, and on her family's experience with illness.

Discussion questions

Lily encounters a tiger from her grandmother's stories that may be magically real. How does Keller develop the ambiguity — does the novel ask you to believe in the tiger, or is the ambiguity itself the point?
The grandmother's illness runs through the novel as the real, unmagical thing the family is facing. How does Keller balance the folkloric and the realistic — does the magic provide escape, explanation, or something else?
Lily's family carries stories — and silences — across generations. How does Keller develop the relationship between what is told and what is withheld?
The novel draws on specific Korean folklore (the tiger figure). What does this cultural specificity add — and how does Keller make it accessible without over-explaining?
When You Trap a Tiger won the Newbery Medal. What does it do that earns this recognition — and how does it use fantasy elements to approach a very real subject (grief, illness) that realism alone might find difficult?