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A review by debbieg
Tyger by SF Said
3.0
I have enormous respect for S.F. Said as an advocate for children's books, and I've met him, and I really want to support his work. Maybe it had been over-hyped, but I found it a little disappointing.
There's a lot to like. I wish it had been longer, deeper, and more complex. For me, it was very much a "middle-grade" novel, that is, a _children's_ book, not YA, but it read to me very "young" even for middle-grade. Perhaps it demonstrates the way the categories have slipped (works that in my own childhood were labelled children's books are now listed as YA), and I find it interesting to see reviews that put it at the upper range of middle-grade. Yes, the themes of racism and colonialism are topical and obviously reflect Said's own experience, but again I found myself wishing for a bit more nuance, particularly with the bad guys (Said is in good company here; I had the same reaction to Philip Pullman, whose work covers much of the same mythical background). Overall, it's ambitious, well written and compelling, but I was hoping for something more.
There's a lot to like. I wish it had been longer, deeper, and more complex. For me, it was very much a "middle-grade" novel, that is, a _children's_ book, not YA, but it read to me very "young" even for middle-grade. Perhaps it demonstrates the way the categories have slipped (works that in my own childhood were labelled children's books are now listed as YA), and I find it interesting to see reviews that put it at the upper range of middle-grade. Yes, the themes of racism and colonialism are topical and obviously reflect Said's own experience, but again I found myself wishing for a bit more nuance, particularly with the bad guys (Said is in good company here; I had the same reaction to Philip Pullman, whose work covers much of the same mythical background). Overall, it's ambitious, well written and compelling, but I was hoping for something more.