Louisa will be spending the next six weeks at her mom's family's bush camp located in a remote Tasmanian rain forest. The camp will be bulldozed soon to make an access road and bridge over the river to the service the tin and iron ore mines. Louisa doesn't want to be in Tasmania. She wants to be practicing her violin so that she can earn a spot with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has left behind her parents who are spending their summer in the wetlands of Southern Ontario so her mother can study Fowler's toad, an endangered species.
In the morning, Louisa and Uncle Ruff head over to the Northwest Eco Lodge. There Louisa meets Mel, a guide and her son, Colin. While waiting for Mel to finish talking to a group of tourists, Colin tells Louisa about Convict Rock, an island in the middle of the river. Local legend holds that two escaped convicts were believed to have gone to the island, starved to death there and now haunt the place. Colin impresses Louisa with his knowledge of the bush and the animals.
When they return to camp, Louisa asks her uncle about the strange smell she experienced during the night. He tells her it was either a Tasmanian devil or a Tasmanian tiger called a thylacine. But Louisa has just learned from Colin that the latter are supposed to be extinct. Uncle Ruff asks Louisa if she knows about the camp. Louisa was so concerned about mastering her vibrato that she repeatedly told her mother she didn't have time to talk. Uncle Ruff tells Louisa that Piggy is a pig-footed bandicoot - an animal that is supposed to be extinct since the 1950s. However, Piggy is a descendant of some pig-footed bandicoots given to Louisa's great-grandmother, Eleanor in the 1940s. She ran a breeding program that had limited success, with Piggy being the last one.
Uncle Ruff reveals to Louisa that the story begins with a Tasmanian tiger named Shadow who was Eleanor's first tiger. He tells Louisa that he can tell her the facts but to "know the heart of the place" she needs to read the remnants of her great-grandmother Eleanor's diary which he gives her. Much of the diary was lost in a fire which destroyed the bush camp in the 1990's.
Meanwhile, Mel talks to Louisa about Colin, revealing that he has ASD, autism spectrum disorder. She indicates that Colin "...has challenges with social interactions, reading non verbal cues..." and that as a result making friends is difficult for him. To help him, Mel has Colin stay at the camp since he seems to feel comfortable with Louisa. Although she's not comfortable with this, Mel tells her that Colin will be able to fill her in on the history of the area and that he's also a good cook.
From the diary entries made in 1939, Louisa learns that her great-grandmother heard this strange cry in the bush that sounded so sad. Then Old Stevie, a hunter found what he believed was a hyena pup that he was intending on selling to the zoo. However, Eleanor recognized the pup as a thylacine, often called a Tasmanian tiger, a marsupial that was protected by law. She named him Shadow after the shadows that the giant tree ferns cast. Eleanor cared for him until he grew up, feeding him raw meat and taking him for bush walks. And she worried that Old Stevie would eventually sell Shadow either to a zoo or for money for his pelt. Once Shadow matured and was able to kill his own food, Eleanor knew she had to give him back to Old Stevie.
But Louisa wants to know what happened to Shadow, so Ruff gives Louisa the remaining pages of her great-grandmother's journal to read so she can understand how saving the Tasmanian tiger came about. There aren't many pages left of the diary because of the bushfire in the 1990's that destroyed the original camp.
The journal picks up in November of 1942 but relates the events of September, 1939. As Louisa reads Eleanor's journal she comes to realize that there is much more to the rundown bush camp than it first appears. Old Stevie didn't plan on harming Shadow. Eleanor questioned him on taking Shadow to Maria Island sanctuary but Old Stevie was against it as it was in southeast Tasmania and there are no thylacines there. Instead he suggests they take Shadow to Convict Rock. Stevie felt that because of the superstitions surrounding Convict Rock, no hunters would venture there, and Shadow could swim across to hunt and have a safe retreat.
Although Eleanor attempted to find Shadow on Convict Rock after she released him there, she was unable to do so. But one night playing Waltzing Matilda on the piano, he came near the camp listening to the tune she often played when he was a pup. Eventually Eleanor and Stevie discover that Shadow has found a mate and has two pups. After reading her great-grandmother's diary, Louisa wonders if there might be thylacines still at Convict Rock. Colin tells Louisa that Tasmanian tigers still live on Convict Rock and shows her what he believes in a video of one.
After Uncle Rufus's pig-footed bandicoot Piggy dies, he tells her that her great-grandmother nursed a pair of injured pig-footed bandicoots back to health and re-established a small population of the endangered marsupials around the camp. However, eventually the population declined due to predation by feral dogs and destruction of their habitat. In the 1990's Eleanor tried to repeat what she had done in 1950 but it didn't work. Piggy was the last pig-footed bandicoot. Even worse, Rufus reveals that the camp must close as the local government has approved the building of a bridge across the Pieman River, directly through Convict Rock, so that tin can be transported more easily. When Louisa asks about the fate of the Tasmanian tigers, Rufus reveals that there may be a female Tasmanian tiger whom they have named Ellie, hiding out on Convict Rock. Despite his efforts, he has been unable to trap her so that she can be moved to a more remote area of the forest. But Louisa may hold the key to capturing Ellie.
Discussion
Music for Tigers combines a diverse number of themes to create an interesting story in a unique setting. Set in the Tarkine region of Tasmania, the novel focuses on the possibility that an extinct animal, the Tasmanian tiger or thylacine, may still be alive. In reality, this carnivorous marsupial was listed as extinct in 1936 with the death of the last surviving thylacine in captivity. In recent years however, there have been a spate of reported sightings but no firm confirmation that thylacines still exist.
Kadarusman, a native of Melbourne, Australia, builds a believable story around this idea using a diverse cast of characters. Louisa, is a young teen who has been sent to her family's old bush camp. Louisa plays the violin and is determined to earn a spot on the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. However, she suffers from performance anxiety which can impact her audition. Her Uncle Rufus is the caretaker of the family bush camp and an animal conservationist. Mel works at The Northwest Eco Lodge, along with her son, Colin, who is a knowledgeable bushwalking guide and who also has autism spectrum disorder.
The author uses Colin's penchant for detail and facts to provide readers with many interesting facts and information about a wide variety of topics including thylacines, Tasmanian poisonous snakes, the stars in the Southern Cross, and the ecologically diverse Tarkine forest. As well, Colin's behaviour and mannerisms are an accurate portrayal of someone with ASD.
Within the larger story of the old camp and the long extinct thylacines is the story of Louisa's personal journey and how her relationship with Colin shapes that journey. She arrives on Tasmania, distracted by her worry about getting a spot in the youth orchestra back home and her performance anxiety. Even worse, she's unable to share this problem with her parents. When Mel announces that Colin will be coming to stay at the bush camp, Louisa is panicked. " 'Oh no, I don't think that will work, ...I have to practice a lot while I'm here. I have a big audition when I get back to Toronto. I really don't think I'll have time to- to-..." But Mel reassures Louisa that she will enjoy his cooking and the knowledge he has about the region. As it turns out, their friendship is mutually helpful.
As Colin and Louisa spend time together, Louisa's view of him changes. He tells her he understands why his mom wants him to stay in the camp and he admits that he knows what kids his age are saying about him. "I get it. I'm creepy. I'm a weirdo...It's what I hear people our age say. Plus, it's accurate that I'm not like most of the other kids at school. I talk too much, too loudly, or I don't talk at all. I spend time alone reading or cooking when other kids are playing sports or hanging out together. I don't have any friends..." However, Louisa reveals that she too has things she struggles with: she babbles when she's nervous and she prefers solo activities like playing the violin.
When two girls approach Colin in the grocery store in Corinna, it's clear they think Colin is weird and creepy. Louisa sees how they view him and his different behaviours and she refuses their invitation to get together. She comes to Colin's defense. Although Colin believes Samantha and Marisa are "okay", Louisa tells him their smiles and nice words are fake. Louisa feels Colin's pain and frustration over not being able to know who to trust. Later on Louisa offers Colin tips on facial expressions and has him take pictures of her demonstrating these to help him decode social cues.
Eventually Louisa is able to tell Colin about her issues performing during auditions. She views Colin as brave because he can talk about his struggles, whereas she cannot. However, her experiences in Tasmania and her friendship with Colin give her the courage to come forward and tell her parents, leading Louisa to get help with her anxiety.
Louisa's initially put off by the roughness of the camp, and the presence of Colin who comes to stay at the camp. She's terrified of the large Huntsman spiders that inhabit her cabin and is fearful of the Tarkine forest. However, reading her great-grandmother Eleanor's journals, helps Louisa understand the purpose of the bush camp and to learn about the Tasmanian wildlife. She gradually begins to see the beauty in the forest and in the animals. For example, when Louisa returns to her cabin to practice for when she will be playing to attract Ellie, she spies another Huntsman spider on the wall. But her reaction is very different this time. " 'As I begin to play I see something move in the corner of the cabin, near the top of the doorframe. A large creature with long hairy legs, but I don't scream. "I guess it's going to rain again, huh?' I ask her. The spider settles herself on the wooden beam. I take a deep breath. 'All right,' I tell her. 'I guess you can stay this time.' "
By the end of her stay, Louisa is good friends with Colin, as she learns to accept who he is. She comes to admire his amazing knowledge of the forest and his courage in trying to make friends in high school. Her fear of the forest is replaced by a love for its beauty as seen when she goes for walk before leaving. "I reach the mossy log and sit down after checking for snakes. For once, I don't have my violin. I want to hear the music of the forest instead. I sit and listen to the currawongs sing their Vivaldi chorus and the rhythmic swish and sway of the towering giants above me.I close my eyes, breathe in the lemon myrtle, and listen carefully. I want to imprint it all in my memory forever."
Although Music For Tigers is fictional, Kadarusman notes that many people continue to hope that thylacines still exist in the forests of Tasmania. Kadarusman offers her young readers a map showing the location of Tasmania and the Tarkine Region in the country. There are also notes at the back of the novel about the Tasmanian Tiger, Tasmania's Convict History and Species Extinction. The author incorporates many interesting details about the Tarkine Region which contains "one of the largest temperate rain forests" into her novel.
Music For Tigers is a novel that will appeal to readers interested in the natural world and conservation. Those readers looking for a novel that's a bit different will enjoy this unique story.
Book Details:
Music For Tigers by Michelle Kadarusman
Toronto: Pajama Press Inc. 2020
189 pp.
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