Tig

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Hardcover
$17.99 US
| $23.99 CAN
On sale Sep 03, 2024 | 160 Pages | 9780735267497
Age 10 and up | Grade 5 & Up

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A new, heartwarming middle-grade story from the critically acclaimed author Heather Smith featuring Tig, a young girl struggling to find peace within herself and in her new family. For fans of Rebecca Stead, Wendy Mass and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.

After months of living without electricity or parents, Tig and Peter are forced to move in with their Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny. The transition from down-and-out to picture-perfect isn't easy, especially in pristine Wensleydale with the idyllic couple and their beautiful home.

Tig, with Peter's support, decides to make their new life messy, starting with daily arguments and her plans to become a competitive cheese racer. She'll run circles around her new guardians, outrun a wheel of cheese, and leave the past buried in her dust. 

But things don't always go as planned, and Tig must decide what to truly leave behind in order to move forward.
  • WINNER | 2025
    The Northern Lights Book Awards - Middle Grade Book of the Year
  • HONOR | 2025
    Red Maple Award
  • SHORTLIST | 2025
    National Chapter IODE Violet Downey Award
  • SHORTLIST | 2025
    Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards (MYRCA) - Northern Lights Award
  • SELECTION | 2025
    Maine Student Book Award
  • FINALIST | 2024
    Cybil Award for Elementary/Middle Grade Fiction
One of Quill & Quire’s Favourite Young Readers Titles of 2024
A 2025 Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year
A 2025 Forest of Reading Red Maple Honour Book
An OLA Best Bet


PRAISE FOR Tig:

"A devastatingly honest novel about foster care, neurodivergence, family, and resilience." —STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal

"In the complex, unforgettable Tig, Heather Smith explores the stunning (and sometimes self-sabotaging) resourcefulness children can muster in the face of adversity." —STARRED REVIEW, Shelf Awareness

"A moving, accessible tale of trauma, laced with a compelling sense of optimism."Kirkus Reviews

"Smith's short, beautifully written, chapterless work contains many section breaks and should appeal to reluctant readers. For middle-grade readers, especially fans of melancholy yet hopeful family tales of overcoming adversity." Booklist

"Smith writes here for a younger audience but with only slightly less painful details. Her writing is succinct and often heartbreaking to read, yet beautifully phrased, filled with believable and memorable characters . . . [I]mportant and unforgettable." CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"Through Tig's eyes, readers experience the profound truth that family isn't always defined by blood, but by the bonds of understanding and acceptance forged through shared experiences." Young Adulting

"It's a story about addiction, abandoned children, survival, imaginary friends, love, and family. The reader will be subjected to lots of new vocabulary words, as one of Tig's interests is reading the dictionary, learning new words, and using them in sentences." Story Monsters Ink
© Donald P. Barnes
HEATHER SMITH is the author of four published YA novels; three middle-grade novels, the most recent of which, Tig, has received two starred reviews and was shortlisted for the OLA Red Maple Award; and seven picture books: Angus All Aglow, A Plan for Pops, The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden, Slowpoke the Bell Island Mine Horse, Annie’s Cat is Sad, Waking Ben Doldrums and Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship. The books in her body of work have either won or been shortlisted for virtually every Canadian children's literature prize, and been translated into eight languages. She lives with her family in Waterloo, Ontario. View titles by Heather Smith

About

A new, heartwarming middle-grade story from the critically acclaimed author Heather Smith featuring Tig, a young girl struggling to find peace within herself and in her new family. For fans of Rebecca Stead, Wendy Mass and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.

After months of living without electricity or parents, Tig and Peter are forced to move in with their Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny. The transition from down-and-out to picture-perfect isn't easy, especially in pristine Wensleydale with the idyllic couple and their beautiful home.

Tig, with Peter's support, decides to make their new life messy, starting with daily arguments and her plans to become a competitive cheese racer. She'll run circles around her new guardians, outrun a wheel of cheese, and leave the past buried in her dust. 

But things don't always go as planned, and Tig must decide what to truly leave behind in order to move forward.

Awards

  • WINNER | 2025
    The Northern Lights Book Awards - Middle Grade Book of the Year
  • HONOR | 2025
    Red Maple Award
  • SHORTLIST | 2025
    National Chapter IODE Violet Downey Award
  • SHORTLIST | 2025
    Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards (MYRCA) - Northern Lights Award
  • SELECTION | 2025
    Maine Student Book Award
  • FINALIST | 2024
    Cybil Award for Elementary/Middle Grade Fiction

Reviews

One of Quill & Quire’s Favourite Young Readers Titles of 2024
A 2025 Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year
A 2025 Forest of Reading Red Maple Honour Book
An OLA Best Bet


PRAISE FOR Tig:

"A devastatingly honest novel about foster care, neurodivergence, family, and resilience." —STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal

"In the complex, unforgettable Tig, Heather Smith explores the stunning (and sometimes self-sabotaging) resourcefulness children can muster in the face of adversity." —STARRED REVIEW, Shelf Awareness

"A moving, accessible tale of trauma, laced with a compelling sense of optimism."Kirkus Reviews

"Smith's short, beautifully written, chapterless work contains many section breaks and should appeal to reluctant readers. For middle-grade readers, especially fans of melancholy yet hopeful family tales of overcoming adversity." Booklist

"Smith writes here for a younger audience but with only slightly less painful details. Her writing is succinct and often heartbreaking to read, yet beautifully phrased, filled with believable and memorable characters . . . [I]mportant and unforgettable." CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"Through Tig's eyes, readers experience the profound truth that family isn't always defined by blood, but by the bonds of understanding and acceptance forged through shared experiences." Young Adulting

"It's a story about addiction, abandoned children, survival, imaginary friends, love, and family. The reader will be subjected to lots of new vocabulary words, as one of Tig's interests is reading the dictionary, learning new words, and using them in sentences." Story Monsters Ink

Author

© Donald P. Barnes
HEATHER SMITH is the author of four published YA novels; three middle-grade novels, the most recent of which, Tig, has received two starred reviews and was shortlisted for the OLA Red Maple Award; and seven picture books: Angus All Aglow, A Plan for Pops, The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden, Slowpoke the Bell Island Mine Horse, Annie’s Cat is Sad, Waking Ben Doldrums and Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship. The books in her body of work have either won or been shortlisted for virtually every Canadian children's literature prize, and been translated into eight languages. She lives with her family in Waterloo, Ontario. View titles by Heather Smith
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