A Girl A Tiger and A Very Strange Story by Paro Anand – Stunning and layered fiction for kids age 10+

A Girl A Tiger and A Very Strange Story is a stunning, layered fiction for kids age 10+. It blends adventure, emotion, and activism with grace.

Synopsis

The morning after the storm, Junglee, the Pardhi girl, wonders where her family is.
Alone but unafraid, she is a child of the forest and knows she will survive . . . at least until her family finds her.

The morning after the storm, Raunaq, the tiger cub, wonders where his mother is.
Alone and afraid, his instincts are nothing without his mother’s training. He knows he must find help . . . or he will be lost forever.

When fate brings Junglee and Raunaq together, the two foundlings become each other’s family. As they face the world’s challenges, they form a bond that transcends human imagination.

Told as two sides of the same story, Junglee’s in words and Raunaq’s in pictures, this beautiful tale inspires peace and understanding by overcoming fear and mistrust with love.

Review

A Girl A Tiger and A Very Strange Story is a powerful, heart-tugging tale about survival, love, and belonging, told through the eyes of a wild-hearted Paradhi girl named Junglee and a lost tiger cub without his mother, Raunaq.
Junglee is a child of the forest, and she belongs to it as much as it belongs to her.

She knows how to live with the land, how to read the signs of the trees and winds, and how to survive what others would call wilderness. But when a devastating storm tears through the forest and chaos hits her community, Junglee gets separated from her parents. Alone but determined, she is ready to endure whatever it takes to find them until she stumbles upon a tiger cub, lost and frightened, just like her.

She names him Raunaq because even in the darkness of loss, he brings light and hope. What begins as a fragile alliance for survival slowly grows into a tender, sibling-like bond that is fierce, pure, and unforgettable. Junglee teaches Raunaq how to survive, and Raunaq teaches her what it means to love without words and how her community’s hunting of tigers can cause deep harm.

To find their families and the truth about what happened, Junglee must step beyond the safety of her forest. The journey leads her into villages and cities, places full of noise, cruelty, and questions she is not ready for. Outside the wild, she learns that the true danger is not always from animals. It is often from humans.

The story seamlessly alternates between Junglee’s narration in text and Raunaq’s perspective told through illustrations, a creative choice that adds depth and emotion. The writing is simple yet evocative, capturing the innocence of childhood and the rawness of survival with equal grace.

The first half of A Girl A Tiger and A Very Strange Story focuses on Junglee and Raunaq’s bond, which is heartfelt, touching, and layered with warmth. Junglee’s courage and resilience shine throughout. She is a girl who listens to her instincts, refuses to give up, and carries compassion like armor. Raunaq’s understanding of the world feels beyond explanation. The way he senses danger, love, loss, and understands Junglee is remarkable. Their relationship will hit every animal lover right in the chest.

The second half dives deeper into uncomfortable realities, such as the social stigma surrounding the Paradhi community, their struggles with discrimination, lack of education and legal recognition, and how generations have been pushed to the margins of society. It is raw, painful, and thought-provoking. The book does not just tell Junglee’s story. It holds up a mirror to systemic injustice, showing how prejudice and bureaucracy strip people of dignity and choice.

The themes of hunter versus hunted, survival versus exploitation, and nature versus civilization run strong throughout. The author does not shy away from showing the brutality of human progress, and the result is both heartbreaking and eye-opening.

The climax is bittersweet and emotional. It is not a fairytale ending, but it carries a quiet, defiant hope. You close the book heavy-hearted but also strangely uplifted, much like Junglee who refuses to let the darkness win.

Overall, A Girl A Tiger and A Very Strange Story is a stunning, layered piece of fiction. It blends adventure, emotion, and activism with grace. It is about the bond between humans and animals, the loss of innocence, and the fight to preserve both forests and forgotten communities. A book that roars softly but lingers loudly in your mind long after the final page.

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Have you read this or any book by the same author?
What was your favorite fiction about tribal/indigenous community?

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