SHORTLISTED

"I was born twice. First in wooden room that jutted out over the black water of the Thames, and then again eight years later in the Highway, when the tiger took me in his mouth and everything truly began."

Jaffy Brown is a young boy when he is knocked unconscious by a Bengal tiger in the East End of London. He is saved by the tiger's owner, Charles Jamrach, importer and purveyor of wild and extraordinary animals.

Jaf begins working at the Menagerie, and is soon given the opportunity to take part in voyage of a lifetime: a trip to hunt down and bring back a dragon.