TIG - by Heather Smith (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A 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.

Review Quotes

WINNER of the 2025 Governor General's Literary Award -- Young People's Literature -- Text
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
Shortlisted for the 2025 Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards
An OLA Best Bet
A Starred Selection of the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens, Spring 2025
A 2026 Saskatchewan Young Readers Choice Snow Willow Award Nominee

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

"With a gentle touch and a dollop of humour, Smith unveils Tig's painful history and then leads her back towards love, in the form of two uncles, a dog and a wheel of cheese. This taut, powerful novel will make you angry and hopeful; it will make you cry and laugh, sometimes all on the same page. Tig is truly a love story." --Governor General's Literary Award Assessment Committee

"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

About the Author

HEATHER SMITH is originally from Newfoundland and now lives in Waterloo, Ontario, with her husband and three children. Her east coast roots inspire much of her writing. Her novel, The Agony of Bun O'Keefe, won both the Ontario Library Association's White Pine Award and the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Award, and was also shortlisted for several others. It also received starred reviews from Kirkus and Quill & Quire, and was named a best book by Kirkus, Bank Street College of Education, Globe and Mail and Quill & Quire (honorable mention), as well as selected as an Outstanding International Book by USBBY.
Tig was the winner of the 2025 Governor General's Award, as well as an Ontario Library Association Red Maple Honor, among other honors.