Draper, Sharon M. (1994). Tears of a Tiger. New York, NY : Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN 0689806981.
Plot Summary
Andy Jackson and his friends decide to party after winning a basketball game. Andy's decision to drink and drive ends in a tragic accident that kills one of the boys, Robert Washington. Andy and the rest of his friends struggle to deal with Robert's death. Andy is the one affected the most and he begins to struggle with a deep depression that no one recognizes until its too late.
Critical Evaluation
Tears of a Tiger deals with a few complicated subjects: drinking and driving, death, racism, depression, suicide. Draper uses a variety of ways to tell the story from different characters' points of view. These include diary entries, letters, phone conversations, and conversations between characters. The book is deeply moving as the characters try to cope with the death of a friend while trying to understand the change in Andy's personality. The sad thing is that nobody, not even parents and counselors can reach Andy in time. Some of the dialogue seems unrealistic in a way that teenagers don't speak in the way Draper writes, but regardless the book is a serious look into the importance of discussing the consequences of drinking and driving.
Reader's Annotation
A group of teenagers' lives are changed forever when one of their own is killed in an accident involving drinking and driving.
About the Author
Sharon M. Draper lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught English for twenty-five years. She has been active in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and was named National Teacher of the Year in 1997.
Draper's other books include Forged by Fire, Romiette and Julio, Darkness Before Dawn, and Double Dutch.
Genre
Series, Multicultural Fiction, African American
Curriculum Ties
Sociology
Booktalking Ideas
1) Discuss the importance of being educated about the dangers of drinking and driving.
2) Why do you think the adults were blind to Andy's struggles?
Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 12+
Challenge Issues
Teenage drinking and driving, Suicide
Challenge defense ideas
-Become familiar with the book and its content.
-Refer to the collection development policy of the library, see http://sfpl.org/pdf/about/policies/collection-development-plan.pdf
-Refer to reviews from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly available for viewing on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Tears-Tiger-Sharon-M-Draper/dp/0689806981/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292476315&sr=1-1
-Try to get reviews of the book from teens who have read it.
Why Included in Titles Selected
I wanted to include multicultural literature in my collection.
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