When You Trap a Tiger
#2314.13 adjusted 4.12 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2020 Reading commitment Low Tae Keller Last reviewed 2026-11-02
Overview
When You Trap a Tiger is a standalone middle-grade novel by Tae Keller, published by Random House in January 2020. Twelve-year-old Lily and her family move in with her grandmother, who is ill. A tiger from the Korean folktales her grandmother tells appears to Lily and offers a deal: return something her grandmother took from the tigers long ago, and her grandmother will recover. Lily, her sister and a new friend, Ricky, must decide what to do. The novel draws on Korean folklore and has no sequels.
Mythic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
When You Trap a Tiger Tae Keller
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | When You Trap a Tiger | 2020 | 1 | core | 4.13 (21,242 ratings) |
A standalone novel in which a tiger from Korean folklore appears to a girl and offers a bargain.
Quick answers
- How many books are in When You Trap a Tiger? When You Trap a Tiger's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is When You Trap a Tiger finished? Complete (2020).
- How much reading does When You Trap a Tiger take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is When You Trap a Tiger ranked? #231 in this site's official ranking, based on 21,242 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #231?
Ranked #231 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.13 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (21,242 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #230, The Icemark Chronicles (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 1 book · Complete · 21k ratings · Ranks #231 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Newbery Medal, 2021: won: When You Trap a Tiger
- Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature, 2021: won: When You Trap a Tiger
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Suggestions computed from what When You Trap a Tiger and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Beatryce Prophecy Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.28
- The Stone Girl's Story Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.21
- Pahua Moua Mythic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 4.21
- Black Bird, Blue Road Historical fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.13
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.13 across 21,242 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 29 universes; Inda widened to Sartorias-deles; 5 candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-02
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: When You Trap a Tiger Tier 2
- Past Forward (publisher listing) Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Tae Keller Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-02
Rule: Core Canon = When You Trap a Tiger (2020).