Customer Reviews

Tears of a Tiger

5 star:		(207)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a junior high school English teacher, I am always on the lookout for a good YA novel to teach to my students or to recommend that they read individually. When I heard of Tears of a Tiger, I had high hopes that it would be everything that I look for in a YA novel. First of all, I liked the fact that the main characters were African-American. I teach a large portion of African-American students, and I have a lot of trouble finding a YA novel in which African-Americans are the central characters (are you listening, YA authors?). Second, I absolutely loved the differing points of view style that the book is written in. The way that the characters are developed through conversation, letters, poems, essays, and so on is one of the best that I have read. This is a great teaching tool alone, not to mention a super way of telling the story. Third, the event that is the catalyst for the plot, the underage drinking and driving, is realistic and teaches a great lesson to teenagers. Given my glowing praise, you may wonder, why not five stars? The simple fact is that Andy's suicide destroyed the book for me. The whole plot of the book seemed to be leading to Andy's coming to grips with the death of his friend. I was thinking: what a great way to show kids that there are other alternatives than killing oneself to work through problems. Then, the suicide note and he is dead. This is not a good message to send to youth. While a mature young adult can read and understand this book the way that the author probably meant it to be read, this is not a YA book for the masses. In good conscience, I cannot teach a book to kids who have enough disturbing messages thrown at them from all sources on a daily basis as it is. They do not need to read a book in which the main character, a young man much like many of them, cannot cope with his mistakes and kills himself. Would I still teach Antigone and Macbeth, you may wonder? Yes, I would; the characters who commit suicide in many classic works of literature bear little or no resemblance to the teenagers of today. Andy, on the other hand, is too much like many of the teenagers that I run into on a daily basis. Our children need to be taught the real truth--that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Tears of a Tiger Book Review

Happy-go-lucky teenage boys, play basketball and party; figure out how fast all that can change. Andrew(also known as Andy) Jackson, a basketball player who has his license, and his girlfriend Keisha, have been going steady for a few months. Andy's friends Robbie Washington, B.J. Carson, and Tyrone Mills, all go to the Hazelwood High School together, and have been friends for years. Robbie, Tyrone and Andy are party animals, while B.J. is more down-to-earth and passive. One night the boys decide to get a six-pack and have one of their usual "late-night rituals" together. Andy is the driver and has been drinking, and Robbie has his feet up, dangerously on the dashboard. Carelessly drunk and still driving, the boys head out on the highway, where later they hit a wall and helplessly watch Robbie burn to death in the car. There was nothing the boys could do to get him out of the car, but Andy still blames himself, because he was driving. Andy goes deeper, and deeper into depression, and loses his girlfriend Keisha through his anger and crying. He even sees a counselor, and his friends think he is fine. All that smile and charm is hidden behind a crying mask, and his friends can't reach out to help him. But even a counselor couldn't help his friends through the tragedy they were going to face....in the future. Sharon M. Draper has put together many books like this one, to help young adults through problems that they will face, in their teen years. The book, she hopes, will teach young readers to deal with their problems and to stay away from drugs, alcohol, and suicide. This book is a mix of drama, action, and slight horror. The book was worth the reading, and if you like books that make you cry, you can guarantee this one! It was put together in a conversational form, which was difficult to follow in the beginning, but you will catch up soon, and it just gets better and better. If you ever come across this book, be sure to read it; it may change your life.

When publishing my own book, I heard repeatedly that young African-Americans do not read but I think that's a lie. If more books came out that they could relate to, especially for boys, then the percentage of readers would change.
When I initially got this book, I looked at how it was written and became concerned about the style. Everything is all dialogue--and as much as I like dialogue, I thought maybe the author was pushing it too much. Wrong! I realized quickly that if the dialogue is informative enough, it will make a reader feel like they're being told the story in a conversational manner...and in a different manner at that.
This book was outstanding. I love realistic views of how teenagers REALLY act, feel, talk, and relate to other peers. Ofcourse not every teenager runs into a drunk driving issue, a suicidal peer, or parent abandonment...but even those who don't can probably relate to this book. Draper did not ONLY concentrate on a boy's feelings after his friend died in his car, but also on the relationship between young lovers, parenthood, a teacher/coach relationship with his/her students, and how peer pressure affects students in general. I am so impressed and definitely glad that Amazon.com recommended this book to me. Great job, Sharon! Absolutely great job!

Tears of a Tiger is a book about a 17 -year-old boy named Andy,who is having a lot of trouble getting over the death of his best friend,Rob. After winning big at a school basketball game,they choose to celebrate it the wrong way,drinking and driving.

Andy's friends,who were also involved in the accident,tried to help Andy cope with this devestating,unfortunate accident. Though as time rolls on,Andy is secretly taking the incident harder than anyone could imagine.

Things really start to turn sour when Andy's girlfriend,Kiesha,breakes up with him. As far as Andy is concerned,Kiesha is the only person that he could really turn to. So you could problably speculate how Andy felt when that happened.

I did not enjoy this book in some ways.I am mainly speaking of the fact that nearly everything had a downside. That really makes you think though,because when you look at life,you see that there is a flaw in everything. That is what makes this book really have alot of the reality in it.

Even though,for the most part, I really did enjoy this book,and recommend it for anyone who likes books that have alot of reality hooked up in them. Because,if you really think about it,anyone could end up in the position that Andy,his friends,his family,and his school wre placed in.

I would definately rate this book five stars,for the way that it touches your heart,and the way it tells everyone who reads it,to never,in any situation drink and drive.Not only are you mentally unstable,but you can cause so many others so much pain in one solitary split second.

Tears of a Tiger is about a boy named Andy and some of his highschool friends,Gerald, Tyrone, and B.J. The story focuses on the way in which the boys attempt to deal with a fatal car accident in which they lost their best friend Robbie. Andy and Robbie played on the basketball team together. One night after they had successfully beaten their opponents,they decided to get drunk and go drive around to celebrate their victory. Everyone, except for Gerald, who did not go with them, and B.J., had been drinking. Andy was driving the car when, suddenly, they crashed into a wall. Andy, Tyrone, and B.J. got out of the car just in ti,e before the car burst into flames. Unfortunately Robbie was trapped inside. Andy blamed himself entirely for Robbie's death,and so did his friends. However, they were having to face at this point in time was nothing compared to what was soon to come. I think Tears of a Tiger is a great book. It deals with so many issues that young people have to deal with. Sharon Draper is a great author. The unique style in which she writes makes this story easy for young people to understand. Irecommend Tears of a Tiger to people of all ages.

Tears of a Tiger is about a boy name Andy whose best friend died in a vehicular homicide accident, and he is still blaming himself for it. I like this book because it was full of exciting events and touching moments. My favorite person is Andy because he deals with a lot, and still tries to play it off. This book is not written like a regular book, it has homework assigament and all types of essays and police reports. Kids who like to read about real life events, I would recommend this book to you espicially teenagers who drink and drive. It might make you think the next time before you take a drink.

I am a student in the 8th grade, and don't drink, ( YES! ).

Tears of a Tiger is about a young boy named Andy and how one car accident changed his whole life, In this book it talks about how Andy is drunk driving and one of his friends in the car is killed. Throughout this book it tells about some of the many strong emotions that occur. I thought that this book was very well understood for my age level. I think that this book could change many lives! Tears of a Tiger tells a lot about the life of teenagers and what they are feeling after dealing with the death of their best friend. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about realistic issues that could happen everyday.

I am a teacher who is constantly looking for something "fresh" to give my students. My students are typically low, reluctant readers. This is one of the only books that several of them said "I actually read and enjoyed this book. Give us more of this!"

This book, Tears of a Tiger, was published in 1994 by Simon Pulse. There are 180 pages in Tears of a Tiger. I think that this book is for grades 9th and up, because it has a grown up plot and it's for teenagers. This book is fiction. It is about these boys who are friends and play basketball on their high school team. One of the boy dies and his best friend says it's his fault. The main characters are Andy, Gerald, Rob, Kesisha, BJ, Tyrone, Rhonda, Monty, and Dr.Carrothers. I would have to give this book 5 stars. The first time I saw this book I thought it looked like it would be a dumb book! But then, all my friends said it was good and they all read it. So, I said, " what the heck-I'll read it." So I read it and I loved it. Now I'm reading the next book in the series Forged by Fire. I really like this one, too.

This book Tears of a Tiger is a story about Rob and Andy. Rob died in a car crash one night after a basketball game that their team won. They were celebrating and Andy was drinking and driving. He wrecked in his car and killed Rob. Now, Andy is blaming himself for the whole thing. Andy is the saddest because he was driving the car when his best friend was killed. The rest of the book is about everyone trying to help Andy overcome this death. His parents send him to a psychologist. All the other kids except Andy find a way to deal with Rob's death . Will Andy ever get over this experience or will it take over his whole life? Read this book to find out!

This book is basically about a group of friends who are, by their own actions, put into surcumstances they would have rather not had happen. They drink and drive and their friend gets killed. One of the friends, the driver, is particularly effected by these happenings. The book tells of his struggle to cope with the loss of his best friend and deal with his friends and family after such a tragedy. The book was uniquely set up and an interesting, fast read. The writing and word usage isn't top of the line, but the author manages to bring emotion into the story. Like I said though, the author is no Shakespeare, or even close. It is not necessarily an intellegent book and in most cases, in my opinion at least, would only appeal to kids of middle and high school age. The story line is pretty generic. Over all, only pretty good, but is a little interesting and, unless you are really busy, worth a read. I give it 3 stars.