The Tear Collector [Hardcover]

Patrick Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

Fans of urban fantasy should prepare for a new kind of vampire–one that feeds off of tears instead of blood. Descended from an ancient line of creatures that gain their energy from human tears, Cassandra Gray depends on human sorrow to live. Only Cass has grown tired of living this life and wants to live like a human, especially now that she's met someone worth fighting for.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8–10—Beautiful and popular Cassandra is always available for anyone in need of a peer counselor at school, a volunteer in the hospital, or a sympathetic ear at church. She is ready to console and comfort those with a multitude of problems, from broken hearts to the death of a family member. But she doesn't do these things to be nice; she does them because her life depends on it. Cassandra has descended from a long line of grief vampires who need tears instead of blood to survive. She is expected to collect tears and produce the next generation for her family's survival, but recently Cassandra has become disillusioned with her life. She has made meaningful friendships, has allowed herself to feel, and, most importantly, has fallen in love. Jones presents a compelling story that redefines the term "vampire." Cassandra is a complex character who readers will identify with as she struggles to understand who she really is, where her loyalties lie, and how to take control of her own destiny. Those looking for a new spin on the vampire story should find this one satisfying.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY
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About the Author

PATRICK JONES received lifetime achievement awards from both the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association for his work motivating young people to read. He is also the author of many teen novels, including The Tear Collector, Stolen Car, and Things Change. Patrick was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

www.connectingya.com

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080278710X
• ISBN-13: 978-0802787101
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,312,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of teen novels Things Change (Walker, 2004) and Nailed (Walker / Bloomsbury, 2006).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Story of Redemption Leaves One Crying Tears of Frustration (Some Spoilers), September 6, 2009

By 

Leah "book fanatic/ film enthusiast" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tear Collector (Hardcover)

**NOTE: This book has sexual scenes and cursing.

She's the perfect shoulder to cry on, the one people can turn to in crises. She volunteers at hospitals to be there for hurting family members. She devotes her time to her high school peer counseling program, which she also co-founded. She takes your sorrow and dries your tears with her handkerchief, encouraging you to let your tears come freely. She knows how you feel. Or does she?

"The Tear Collector" is a spin on the vampire myth. Instead of surviving off blood, the narrator, Cassandra Gray, lives off the pain of humans. She absorbs this through tears and, using her great-grandmother Veronica's special handkerchief, can gain strength for herself and her ailing family matriarch. It's a repetitive business: Cassandra has the reputation for being a heartbreaker at school, but also as a girl with a huge heart who cares about everyone. She has been trained since birth to do what it right for the sake of her family. She must collect energy for her great-grandmother. She must procreate and make sure the line continues. It's a duty she does with a few doubts, but those doubts grow when she finds herself attracted to--and possibly falling in love with--a boy from her class.

The writing style reminds of R.L. Stine's wonderful "Fear Street" series. No frills, just sparse language and clear descriptions of the way people look and act, which, for me, makes the story easy to read and get in to. We get to see how lying is so easy for her if she can get those coveted tears eventually. We also see the family life, if I can even call it that, which rules how she lives.

However, since Cassandra is by nature driven to manipulate to get what she needs, she is not a reliable narrator, so there are times when it's difficult to say if she is sincere. This proves especially true when she and Scott, the boy she's attracted to, start to "fall" for each other. Their feelings happen quickly, which is plausible since they are in high school, yet Cassandra isn't believable when she says she's in love. She also reaches out to a troubled girl named Samantha, Scott's ex and in whom Cassandra views as a wealth of unshed tears. Strangely, they will later become each other's support systems. Theirs is a strange yet satisfying friendship.

Cassandra is also faced with other foreign feelings when her friend dies in a possible suicide and the strain of her upbringing has her longing for something she had always thought unattainable until now. In Cassandra's world, sadness is necessary and love means exile. If she starts to feel this, she becomes the worst of the worst: human. Remnants of the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" are found in these sections, along with the notion of sacrifice. The mermaid becomes human out of love but experiences only pain. Sacrifice and being female go hand in hand, and the story centers around these perfectly. Why does the woman always have to sacrifice herself for her family and others? When is it time for her to think about what she wants? It's a heartbreaking reality.

I have several reasons for the three stars. I couldn't feel anything for Cassandra because she was an unreliable narrator. There are various caricatures of people ranging from white boys who want to be black and gossiping cheerleaders who wear tight clothes to get people to like them. There's a cackling, handsome, over-the-top villain who wants Cassandra to join his evil doings, while Scott is sweet and religious. The biggest pet peeve I had with this book though was the use of the question, "What do you mean?" by some of the characters. I lost count after twelve. There are other ways of asking, "What do you mean?" The editor should have caught this for the sake of the reader and to avoid the repetition.

"The Tear Collector," while a decent read, could have been stronger. It's too bad the narrator is the main reason the story falls short of excellent. I would recommend borrowing this from the library, but have tissues in hand for those frustrated tears you'll be shedding.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Original Alternative-Vampire Concept, Poor Execution, December 17, 2009

By 

Stephanie Su (Swarthmore, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tear Collector (Hardcover)

THE TEAR COLLECTOR attempts to work an interesting spin on the well-established genre of vampire lit, but fails miserably at raising readers' sympathies and holding their attention. The characters are flat and the interactions unbelievable.

Cassandra is an unlikable protagonist, and not because she's a girl with questionable morals and intentions--there are many "mean girls" in YA lit whose faults and funky attitudes I embrace fully. However, Cassandra is often difficult to connect to emotionally: we hear that she is frustrated by her family, scornful of her classmates and ex-boyfriends, but we don't see or feel it. This emotional distance makes readers unable to sympathize with Cassandra's difficulties. She's really a character in a fictional story, not someone who could be our classmate or a person we knew back in school.

Cassandra's interactions with the other characters in the book are far from interesting. Most of the time, conversation falls flat as stereotypes attempt to catfight with one another...while neither of them have real claws. Cassandra and Scott's relationship is also dull: there's about as much successful chemistry between the two of them as remedial science classes.

Perhaps that was a bit harsh, but that's the problem: THE TEAR COLLECTOR doesn't know what harsh is. Jones comes up with a brilliant premise, one that could really go places, but ends up only playing on stereotypes and surface emotions. And it's really a shame. THE TEAR COLLECTOR will appeal to those not as well read in YA vampire lit or those who are willing to overlook uninspiring writing for the sake of an original concept.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Heavy High School Emotional Drama, Not Urban Fantasy, December 3, 2009

By 

Judah (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tear Collector (Hardcover)

I found this in the normal fantasy section, in a display of several vampire novels. The premise of a vampire who lives on sorrow and not blood sounded potentially mesmerizing, so I gave it a try. What I found was a YA novel, which followed the life of a teenage girl from a first person perspective. As a narrator, Cassandra Gray leaves much to be desired. Sure, she drinks down the sorrows of others like a psychic leech, but the book is about her journey of self-acceptance. If you think of the tear collecting as a limit like lactose intolerance or insulin for diabetes, then Cassanda becomes all too human.

She is so un-monster like that I found this a simple novel of a normal teenage girl who falls in love for the first time, despite recurring tragedy that keeps entering her life. The twist was she perhaps enabled and sought out the tragedy, but that doesn't make the tragic stories less heartless and random. Other characters include a representative from every high school clique you can imagine, a cliche villain, a hateful 'evil step-sister-like' family environment, and the love interest Scott (a good smart true-believer with Catholic moral values).

The reason I didn't like the story was the setting. It wasn't fantasy; it was High School. I'm not a fan of High School stories where the majority of the story is spent dealing with High School teachers, High School drama, and High School cliques. Maybe you'd like this if you were in High School yourself, but I'm long past that stage of my life, and I simply found the whole thing tragic and immature. It's a 'feel bad' type novel, and I don't like reading things that get me down. If you like that vibe, the novel is developed well.