Fish

Written through the eyes of a child, and gentle enough for read-aloud to a child, yet filled with tension and suspense. Its a great little story.

A young boy's family are AID workers in an unnamed country. The country is wrought with flooding, drought and political turmoil. The parents decide they need to leave the country to escape danger but the only way out is through the mountains and an attempt to cross the border into a new country. The parents at first think the trip will be a walk to a road and then walking over the border fairly easily. The road doesn't exist in the weather difficulties and the family use a guide and a donkey to help the cross mountains. The boy, Tiger, finds a small fish surviving in a muddy puddle and decides to save it. The length he goes to rescue the fish mirrors the family's attempts to save themselves. A moving, original story.

Narrated by a child of indeterminate gender,this seemingly simple allegory tells more than a story of child and fish. Tiger is the child of aid workers living in a country devastated by war and famine. As the family evacuates, Tiger rescues a fish that is slowly suffocating in a puddle and, even though the family may take only what they can carry on their backs, the fish is placed in a pot and carried along on the journey. The parallel stories of a quiet, gentle guide leading the family safely, the parents' selfless aid to a war-torn country, and Tiger's steely insistence that Fish should survive under such harsh circumstances create a multi-layered novel celebrating the human spirit.

This book's greatest strengths are its sensual descriptions of the ordinary elements of our world, and the unexpected glimpses of the greater reality of human relationships. In a narration that is always beautiful, we are allowed a gritty immersion into the flip side of our American lifestyles, those connected parts of the human and natural world from which our economic flow and "freedom" are obtained at such a cost. A reviewer above has identified the theme as "Christian," and so it is, but I think it is just as well related to any religion, as well as the deep reality that devout Athiests pursue. This is a wonderful book to read aloud and savor. If you can help it at all, DON'T read the jacket, for the surprise of the plot is probably very important to its unfolding. I'm giving it to all my family for Christmas this year.

Tiger is the child of humanitarian aid workers living in a country torn by famine and war. When their government asks them to evacuate the country, the family must make a difficult trek across the mountains to make their way back home.The day they leave their village, Tiger rescues a fish that is slowly suffocating in a mud puddle. As the family can only take what belongings they can carry on their backs, Tiger's choice to carry the fish seems absurd. But as the mud puddle is quickly drying up, Tiger is worried that the fish will die."'All the animals here have died --- and lots of the people,'" says Tiger's father. "'One fish is just one fish after all.'"However, Tiger's parents, and the Guide who takes them across the border, help Tiger transport the fish. First the fish is carried in a cooking pot, then in a water bottle, and eventually in Tiger's mouth. The people who they meet along the way think what Tiger is doing is strange, but they are also impressed by the compassion the child has for another living creature.FISH is L.S. Matthews's first book. The focus and simplicity of this tale make it appealing to a broad range of readers. Tiger narrates the book. It is never clear whether Tiger is a boy or a girl. This makes it easier for the reader to identify with Tiger and perhaps also with the adventures that Tiger and the fish encounter.This book is a simple story about a child and a fish. It is also about trying to make a difference, even if it is just in the life of one being. What Tiger does for the fish is no different from what Tiger's parents do as aid workers. Each makes a difference in the world one life at a time. --- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood