THE TIGER'S EGG:
The Wednesday Tales No. 2
by Jon Berkeley
HarperCollins
Hardcover: 0060755105
Paperback: 9780060755126
Ages 8-12
432 pages

“He marched on unsteadily into the night, the once Great Cortado, sudden giggles exploding from him like hiccups. As the cold air washed the hospital drugs from his system his old plans and schemes began to rise up through the madness, stranger than they had been before, darker and more crooked.”

The evil, once great, Cortado of the eerie and dark Circus Oscuro escapes from the hospital where he has been imprisoned. He desires many things, but above all he wants revenge and the head of Selim, the boy who caused the collapse of his Palace of Laughter. The Tiger’s Egg picks up with the same pace and excitement found at the conclusion of Jon Berkeley’s previous book, THE PALACE OF LAUGHTER.

Miles Wednesday, Tangerine and Little join a much happier circus, the Circus Bolsillo, but soon find themselves immersed in multiple mysteries. They meet a curious fortune-teller, Doctor Tau-Tau, who drops hints about Miles’s father and that he might not be an orphan after all. Seeking knowledge about his dad, Miles learns about the magical powers of the Tiger’s Egg, a family he didn’t know existed and answers about his mother. He has a tiger for a “guardian angel,” or so it seems. The life Miles leads is one of fantasy and incredible luck.

Miles and Little are thrown into one adventure after another as the circus travels from village to village. The story is full of creative and outrageous events, such as a blind explorer heading a procession into town followed by a cart carrying two pet crocodiles pulled by an elephant. He’s taking his pets to the circus so they can go off and see the world.  

Miles discovers an unusual connection to the horrible monster, The Null, and carries with him a stuffed bear that lives in his pocket. His best friend is a former song angel who can no longer sing the One Song. Rumors suggest that he has the missing Tiger’s Egg, perhaps given to him by the mother he never met.

“Miles Wednesday, arm-raised and egg-baffled, squirmed as a hundred bony little fingers searched him from head to toe. It was like being tickled by a pack of miniature uncles, and despite the anger rising up inside him he could barely keep himself from laughing.” Unfortunately, the strange, furry Fir Bolgs are intent on cutting him open to retrieve their missing Tiger’s Egg.

Who has the Tiger’s Egg? Will the Great Cortado find Miles? Will Miles discover that he really isn’t an orphan? The answers don’t appear until the conclusion, but be sure not to skip any pages --- you might miss some of the pieces of this engaging puzzle.

    --- Reviewed by Patsy Side

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