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Petting Tigers is a story of what happens when a young girl is robbed of her childhood after a parent becomes one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a cultish religious organization that demands complete submission. It further describes how a beautiful mind can be washed away and instead filled with rote beliefs that make no sense in the real world. The airtight belief system, which is called The Truth by its devotees, turns self-destructive when the child grows into an adult who continuously fails to meet the expectations of the set mold.
Petting Tigers takes the reader through the author’s painful self-realization and valiant journey to extricate herself and her three sons from the Organization. She knows full well that everyone they know will then shun them. Petting Tigers is about finding a way out and the slow, awkward steps taken after emerging like a newborn into a world she had not known or understood.
Other comments: 'many tears flowed,' 'incredible and important story,' 'remarkable,' 'heartfelt,' 'beautiful,' 'inspirational,' 'gorgeous book,' 'amazing act of courage and determination,' 'well written,' 'compelling and thought provoking.' 'The story will stay with me for a long time.'
Once I started Petting Tigers, I literally couldn
I wonder if you realize just how good your book really is. It is exceptionally well written. It pulls the reader forcefully forward and leaves the reader with new and valuable insights. I believe that with broader exposure, it would be a best seller.
I finished your brilliant and provocative book yesterday and it was so insightful that I did not want it to end. Like other great writers, you are willing to tell the truth and that shows on every page. The difficult parts of our lives are not easy to confront but you have provided object lessons from which we can all better ourselves. At the same time, Petting Tigers is highly entertaining and keeps the reader engaged. I give it my highest recommendations.
The conflict of emotion from unsettling to inspirational makes it impossible to put down. In the end, which will prevail?
About the Author Shelley Smith Jones grew up in Livingston, Montana, the daughter of a Northern Pacific Railroad conductor and a devout Jehovah’s Witness mother. She raised her three sons in Southern Idaho before moving to Seattle, Washington, in 2001. Currently, she lives in North Central Washington with her husband and two horses.
