Tears of a Tiger

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This book is exactly how I remembered, heartbreaking. From beginning to end, Draper gives you all the details of what is happening around this tragic story. From the accident to the thoughts of Andy himself, teachers, friends, family, coaches, and counselors; the details will leave you with your emotions all over the place. And, trust me, you will cry. That’s the reason why I waited so long to read the other 2 books; I remembered what it felt like to read this one and I could never bring myself to acquire the others. I shouldn’t have read it again, but I did. I needed to refresh my memory of these characters and what role they played in Andy’s life.Andy is an African-American teenager who lives with guilt and depression. One night of drinking and driving, with him behind the wheel, killed his best friend Rob. Those around him think that he’s dealing with it just fine, and Andy puts up a good front. However, his grades are slipping, his relationship with his girlfriend Keisha is falling apart, and his father’s lackadaisical attitude just adds to his low spirits. His girlfriend tries to be understanding of his feelings, but there’s only so much that she can take of his moodiness. Andy’s father has a point on certain things, but the way that he ignores his son made me mad. His mother is just as clueless. He fooled his therapist into thinking that he was okay, but when he was reaching out at the end, no one was there. That broke me down. The school counselor’s attitude when Andy’s friends went to her weeks prior, rubbed me the wrong way but was expected. No one saw the boy who was so desperately holding on until it was too late. His English teacher was maybe the only one who REALLY and TRULY cared about his acting out. She even called his father about his failing grades and misbehaving.It’s no secret that most people assume that playing professional football and basketball, is the only way that a black man can be successful. I’m not stating this to be judgmental, but it’s true. You wouldn’t believe some of the things that I’ve heard growing up and right now at my job even. Whispers float and these ears have caught a lot of stuff in the air. This book not only gives you a perspective about what most African-American males go through during their teen years; It’s the felling of worthlessness that comes from teachers not giving a d**m, talking behind your back about not being good enough, and just the thought of “all black people amount to nothing” whispers that float throughout society. It’s true. When you grow up around racist people who are only in it for a paycheck, that stuff hurts. Some teachers hate their jobs. Let me rephrase, they hate that they had to take a job teaching black kids who will never be successful in anything. How do I know? I walked in on a conversation almost identical to the one written in this book. Those teachers were white. They never even knew I was there, and if they had I’m not even sure they would have cared. This is not about that, but it gives you incite into the mind of young people. How they think. How they feel. And most people just don’t get that. They’d rather judge you anyway because of the color of your skin. Because it’s how they were taught. No one is born racist. Maybe not racist, but a heavy sense of misjudgment. I hate both!This book really is about depression and it’s many telltale signs. I wish that it had been different, but maybe the anguish was needed. That’s why this book is required reading in most schools. It wasn’t required when I was in school, but my English teacher bought the books herself for us to read. I remember the long discussions about it during class and how passionate we all were about our opinions of the characters. A great book to read if you want some incite on African-American lives, depression, suicide, stereotypes, and the like. I definitely recommend!

Well, since the spoiler is out (yes, this and other reviews contain SPOILER ALERTS), I feel free to debate the points made about Andy's suicide in this novel by another reviewer, especially for the sake of others who are considering teaching this novel to their classes. I've never been one to shy away from teaching content because a character makes poor choices--when literature of merit contains high-stakes choices and consequences, then it is a highly teachable moment. Sharon Draper does an excellent job in supporting those moments.First, it is not accurate, as another review implied, that Andy's suicide is the resolution of the story and therefore, a poor lesson or example for young readers; Andy's death is actually the climax of the novel with the fallout and resolution to follow. During the falling action of the novel, the consequences of Andy's death--specifically, its impact on his friends and family--is clearly articulated. Gerald's anger and disappointment in his friend for having taken the coward's way out, and Rhonda's graphic (though age-appropriate) account of discovering the aftermath of Andy's suicide were each among the most poignant of the reactions to Andy's death, which my students and I discussed in depth.Similarly, we would disagree with the statement that all of the rising action pointed to Andy's eventual coming to grips with his responsibility for his friend's death. My students, though hopeful for Andy's sake, debated the implications of his suicidal thoughts and increasingly erratic behavior--including how it pointed to his devolving state of mind and the possibility of his eventual suicide--during the rising action of the novel. Other points that we explored were the contrast between Andy, who was not comfortable seeking help and was advised by his father to "be bigger than the problem," and BJ, who readily sought outside help for a problem that was "bigger than" he was. My students were able to compare and contrast these characters and predict outcomes for each based on these traits. Further, the fact that Andy and his girlfriend, Keisha, each knew that Andy was suicidal, but chose not to share that information with others, was also a point of discussion in my classroom, and one used to predict the possibility that Andy might commit suicide. Though Andy's tragic end was tough (there were many tears in my classroom--including my own!), the fact that it was balanced by the experiences and characteristics of other characters offered my students an opportunity to explore the topics of grappling with guilt, seeking support, and suicide (and its alternatives), for themselves. This lead to many wonderful classroom debates and writing assignments.In addition to the opportunities for close reading and analysis mentioned above, Draper's unique presentation of the story through a variety of viewpoints and types of writing offers a nearly endless supply of opportunities to teach the relationships between author's purpose, voice, diction, grammar, tone, and mood. My students and I spent several weeks working through this novel, stopping frequently to explore things like how the author uses phrases and clauses to pack lots of information into each sentence of the brief newspaper account of the deadly car crash at the beginning of the novel, while Tyrone--describing the same event--uses vivid details to recreate the changing atmosphere as the students drove home together that fateful night, along with the rhetorical effect of each. The novel can be explored on many levels and, though highly engaging for students because of the relatable characters and controversial nature of the topics covered, was obviously written with the entire English class--including the teacher--in mind.

I bought it for my niece. She really liked the story.

Es la primera vez que mi hijo adolescente lee un libro hasta el final "porque a él le ha dado la gana". Por eso lo leí después, para comprobar qué le había movido tanto por primera vez en su vida. Descubrí un libro duro pero que refleja la soledad tan terrible de alguno de ellos, la falta de comprensión y lo difícil que les resulta expresarse. El lenguaje es muy auténtico para esa edad y engancha desde el principio.

I am very happy I received my item however the back cover of the book was completely bent in half, it looks like it may have been done before delivery.