Jamrach's Menagerie

Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch was a fairly good read, though some of the content was a bit confronting. Set in mid to late 19th century, a young boy, Jaffy, living in the slums meets an escaped tiger in a London street (based on a true incident). He survives the experience and goes to work for the tiger's owner Jamrach in his menagerie where many exotic birds and animals are traded. Jaffy befriends another employee, an older boy, Tim and meets his sister Ishbel. Jaffy and Tim decide to join a ship on an expedition to capture a rare beast for a "collector". Their adventures and mishaps then form most of the story. 31/2/5