American Tiger

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2, 2025

‍WILD | adjective | : Living in a state of nature, not ordinarily tame or domesticated; uncontrolled

A motherless nine-year-old girl glances out her school bus window and notices a tiger licking its paws behind Target. Nobody else sees it and nobody believes her, not even her father, a local game warden, because it is well known that Bell Tern has an untamed imagination. But evidence mounts and with it, the possibility that Bell is telling the truth and a most unlikely predator could be prowling a seemingly placid suburb of Los Angeles.

Based on true events, rooted in the stunning Southern California landscape, and populated with vivid characters, American Tiger is about more than a frantic tiger hunt. It’s about a child’s quest for self-discovery, her stoic father’s struggle to come to terms with their past, and the innate wildness of every living thing.

Advance Praise

"AMERICAN TIGER is a gorgeous, subtly subversive yarn ringing with truth."

_{Elizabeth Gilbert, Author of EAT PRAY LOVE, CITY OF GIRLS, and ALL THE WAY TO THE RIVER}

“Gripped me from the first page. Rarely have I read a novel with such an exquisite sense of place. Bell Tern is a wonderful character, but I believed the story because I could see, hear, and smell the gorgeous valley where this narrative takes place. American Tiger will stay with me.”

_{‍Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Oprah Book Club pick, HELLO BEAUTIFUL}

"Skolnick is a great, under-appreciated talent and this is a superb story. one that reckons with modern humanity’s underlying philosophical flaw—our insistence that we are somehow apart from rather than a part of the natural world."

_{Rich Roll, bestselling author of FINDING ULTRA, host of the Rich Roll Podcast}