Tears of a Tiger
 | |
| Author | Sharon Draper |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Simon Pulse |
| Cover artist | Andreus Green |
| Country | United States |
| Series | Hazelwood High Trilogy |
| Genre | Realistic fiction |
| Published | 1994 Atheneum |
| Media type | Print(hardcover) |
| Pages | 162 |
| ISBN | 978-0-689-80698-8 |
| Followed by | Forged by Fire |
Tears of a Tiger is a young adult novel written by Sharon M Draper.[1][2] It was first published by Atheneum in 1994, and later on February 1, 1996 by Simon Pulse, and is the first book of the Hazelwood High Trilogy. It depicts the story of a seventeen-year-old African American boy named Andrew "Andy" Jackson, who feels deeply guilty for inadvertently causing his best friend Robert "Rob" Washington's death through drunk driving. The story is told through multiple different formats such as journal entries, first person narratives, and newspaper articles.[3]
Plot Summary
Seventeen year old Andy Jackson just won a basketball game at Hazelwood High School, and he and his friends Robbie Washington, Tyrone Mills, and B.J. Carson decide to ride home in Andy’s Jeep until Andy, Rob and Tyrone decide that they were going to celebrate by drinking while Andy was behind the wheel. However, Andy accidentally crashed his car into a wall, and Rob was sitting in the passenger’s seat with his feet on the dashboard. So when the car crashed, his feet went through the windshield, pinning him in between the wall and crashed Jeep. And when Andy and B.J. tried to get Robbie out of the car, it explodes, sending them flying off of the car roof and Rob burns to death while screaming for Andy, B.J. and Tyrone to save him.
After getting out of the hospital, Andy went to court and got his license and car taken away. He felt like Rob's death was his fault and he didn't know how to move on with his life. Coach Ripley, the basketball coach, gave him some advice and he took Rob's place as team captain. Andy started talking to a psychologist named Dr. Carrothers, and he pretended to be fine, when he really was depressed and ashamed about Rob.
It was hard to talk to his friends and parents about his feelings. His grades were getting worse, and he even ran out of English class when they were talking about suicide and death in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. While staying home to watch his 6 year old brother, Monty, Andy had a nightmare about Rob blaming him for his death. He always enjoyed talking to Monty.In the chapter "Lions and Tigers and Dinosaurs", Monty asks Andy if tigers cry. What Monty is saying is a metaphor. He’s really asking Andy if he cries. This chapter is crucial because it shows that Monty is very quick to pick up on Andy’s emotions and how his older brother is feeling. The only person who really understood Andy was his girlfriend, Keisha Montgomery, who’d been helping Andy through his mental recovery following Rob’s death. Keisha notices little by little that Andy’s depression is a lot worse than he’s leading on, but decides not to tell anyone. When his emotions become too much for her to handle, she breaks up with him, with the last thing she ever says about him to her friend Rhonda is “No, I hope I never see him again.”
On the same day, Andy skips school and stays home and decides to use his dad's hunting rifle to commit suicide in order to get rid of all the pain and guilt. His mother, Monty, and Rhonda all see his body in his room with the gun in his hand and his blood everywhere. His friends are really upset and write letters to him, wishing he'd had asked for help instead of ending his life without saying goodbye. Tyrone said he'd never forget the night Rob died, Gerald was angry that Andy didn't have courage, Rhonda wanted to know if Andy was thinking about his family, and Keisha hated that he was dead, and hoped he'd go to heaven. Instead of writing a letter, B.J. prays for Andy, hoping he'll go to Heaven too, no matter how stupid he acted. He said that Andy was afraid of death. In the last chapter entitled “The Tears of a Tiger”, Andy’s mom drives Monty to Andy’s gravesite. While sitting there, Monty talks about how it was selfish of Andy to leave before his 7th birthday, before he could teach Monty to talk to girls, and before he could teach Monty how to play basketball. Monty told him that he'd always love Andy and would always miss him.
Characters
- Andrew "Andy' Jackson-the protagonist who feels deeply guilty for killing his best friend Rob, and commits suicide at the end of the story
- Robert Orlando "Rob" Washington-Andy's best friend who gets killed in the car accident, which affects Andy and his friends
- Tyrone Mills- one of Andy and Rob's friends on the basketball team, who was drinking with them the night Rob got killed
- B.J. Carson- another one of Andy's friends who was in the car when Rob dies. He prays for Rob and Andy when they die.
- Coach Ripley- the basketball coach who talks to Andy about his feelings
- Dr Carrothers- the psychologist who Andy talked to about his problems
- Keisha Montgomery- Andy's girlfriend who cared a lot about Andy's feelings, but got tired of it afterwards and they broke up. She misses Andy when he commits suicide.
- Monty- Andy's six year old brother who he enjoys talking to. He's upset when Andy dies.
- Gerald Nickelby- another one of Andy's friends on the basketball team. He's angry over Andy's suicide
- Rhonda Jeffries- Tyrone's girlfriend and Keisha's best friend, who's upset about Rob's death, and sees Andy's body.
References
- ↑ Trupe, Alice (2006). Thematic Guide to Young Adult Literature. Greenwood. p. 1. ISBN 9780313332340. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ↑ Hinton, KaaVonia (2008). Sharon M. Draper: Embracing Literacy. Scarecrow Press. pp. 9–38. ISBN 0810859858. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ↑ Brooks, Wanda M.; McNair, Jonda C. (2007). Embracing, Evaluating, and Examining African American Children's and Young Adult Literature. Scarecrow Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 9780810860278. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
External links