Overall, I liked the way in which she updated the story of Peter Pan while remaining true to the original’s theme of what it means to grow up, and the focus on an underused and misunderstood character: Tiger Lily. I would say it’s impossible to read this book and not feel something. The emotions Tiger Lily elicits in the reader see-saw from frustration to affection to pity, as we watch a stoic but still somewhat naive and innocent girl experience true love for the first time, with a boy who not only doesn’t grow up, but can’t. It was written in a straightforward style that mimics classic fairytales, with a lot of “telling” rather than “showing” that still somehow works, Tinker Bell being a surprisingly effective narrator. Reading it made my morning and evening commutes fly by, and I didn’t want to have to put it down.Īnderson has a real knack for language, and unspools the story with lots of drama and cliffhangers and surprising details. I got the little angst chills in my arms that I get when something is deliciously painful. This book hit me right in the feels, just as I imagine it will hit the teen girl YA audience for whom it is aimed at. With that long explanation out of the way, let’s talk about Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson. I don’t discriminate! It does, however, make it really difficult to review books sometimes, when my heart and my mind disagree. Obviously, for me to appreciate a book, I don’t even have to achieve that agreement–some books are enjoyable for my brain, some are enjoyable for my heart, and both are important for my overall love of reading. It’s the rare book that gets my two inner readers to uniformly agree on its quality. If your book utilizes stereotypical gender roles or racist constructions–without critically examining them for some better purpose–this reader will raise her eyebrows, lower her estimation of your book, and say, “Really?” She draws on her experience in cultural competence and feminist theory and history and social justice to help provide context and meaning to books.

I mean that this reader applies a critical lens to the text. And I don’t mean critical in the nit-picky, grammarian sense (though I can certainly fall into that categorization as well). The other reader inside me is a close and critical reader. She’s capricious and fast, but also just completely enjoys reading and can finish a book in a day. If the story is exciting and heart-wrenching, she’s happy. Story is the most important thing to this reader, more important than innovative story structure or deep and thoughtful characterization. She loves angst and melodrama and relationships in conflict. I often feel that there are two readers inside of me.

Jodi lynn anderson books