Tears of a Tiger - Softcover

Draper, Sharon M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689806981 ISBN 13: 9780689806988

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1996

Synopsis

Andy tackles his guilt and grief in the first book of Sharon M. Draper’s award-winning Hazelwood High trilogy.

Tigers don’t cry—or do they? After the death of his longtime friend and fellow Hazelwood Tiger in a car accident, Andy, the driver, blames himself and cannot get past his guilt and pain. While his other friends have managed to work through their grief and move on, Andy allows death to become the focus of his life. In the months that follow the accident, the lives of Andy and his friends are traced through a series of letters, articles, homework assignments, and dialogues, and it becomes clear that Tigers do indeed need to cry.

About this title

About the Author

Sharon M. Draper is a New York Times bestselling author and recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring her significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens. She has received the Coretta Scott King Award for both Copper Sun and Forged by Fire, and was most recently awarded the Charlotte Huck Award for Stella by Starlight. Her novel Out of My Mind has won multiple awards and was a New York Times bestseller for over three years. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught high school English for twenty-five years and was named National Teacher of the Year. Visit her at SharonDraper.com.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. When star basketball player Robert Washington and his three closest friends mix drinking and driving in a postgame victory celebration, Robert is killed in an auto accident. The driver, Andy Jackson, is unable to resolve his feelings of guilt and remorse. Neither Andy's parents nor his psychologist accurately perceive the depth of Andy's depression, with tragic results--Andy, at the end, commits suicide. The story emerges through newspaper articles, journal entries, homework assignments, letters, and conversations that give the book immediacy; the teenage conversational idiom is contemporary and well written. Andy's perceptions of the racism directed toward young black males--by teachers, guidance counselors, and clerks in shopping malls--will be recognized by African American YAs. Although some heavy-handed didacticism detracts from the novel's impact, the characters and their experiences will captivate teen readers. The novel is also suitable for use in curricular units dealing with alcohol abuse, suicide, and racism. Merri Monks

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0689806981
• ISBN 13: 9780689806988
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 192