Saber-Tooth by Robin Gow

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication Date: January 27, 2026
• Reviewed from NetGalley e-galley
• ISBN: 9781419777387

Jasper cannot believe that his older brother is ignoring him just before he leaves for college far away. His brother had promised to take him to find fossils, but they never did. Jasper loves rocks and fossils, which is why when he picked his new name, he picked Jasper. Jasper feels so angry at his brother that he dumps an entire glass of lemonade on his brother’s college laptop, ruining it. When his brother leaves for college, Jasper is still angry, now at himself as well as his brother. When Jasper starts to hear the bones of a saber-tooth tiger speaking to him from inside the ground, the voice is friendly. It urges Jasper to dig and soon Jasper is staying up all night digging a hole in his backyard. But the voice changes and soon Jasper has to face that anger even when buried can be destructive.

This book is so multi-layered that it’s nearly impossible to write a coherent summary of it. The book is written in verse, sharing Jasper’s struggles with his anger, questioning whether he is ready to grow up as an eighth grader, finding new friends, but always being drawn back to the voice in his head, the saber-tooth. Jasper is also trans, an element that is important and yet not the focus of the book. I deeply appreciate the handling of the saber-tooth in the end. It does not become a figment of Jasper’s imagination or a sign of mental illness, it is very much alive and while symbolic is also tangible. 

A verse novel with wildness, bite and rage.