Looking for a book
When I was younger (middle school, I think), I read a book I really enjoyed about a boy who runs away from home and gets a job at a tiger/big cat sanctuary in Texas (he’s actually 14, but lies and tells them he’s 16). The sanctuary takes care of illegal exotic pets that were taken from their owners. At one point, there’s a tornado that kills at least one of the sanctuary’s cats (a leopard or jaguar). A main part of the story is about a very big, dangerous white tiger that has to be locked in a small cage while they clean his pen, and that’s one of the boy’s jobs, and he manages to get a bit of a good relationship with the tiger. There’s a man who works at the sanctuary who was doing, something, shady. The boy finds out and the man tries to kill the kid, but the tiger winds up saving him. In the end the boy gets discovered to be a runaway and reunited with his parents (or something, I don’t remember exactly).
I THOUGHT the title was Claws but I seem to be wrong. I definitely remember there being claw marks on the cover, though. Anybody else remember this book? Do you know the title?
Tagging @maxisthenewalex because my favorite librarian might be able to help.
