Tears of a Tiger | Teen Ink

Tears of a Tiger

September 30, 2008
By Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
1044 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Have you ever known someone in your high school that died in a car crash? Well, Andy Jackson, B.J. Carson, and Tyrone Mills were all Robbie Washington's best friends and they were there the night he died. All four of them decided it would be fun to celebrate with some beers after they won their basketball game, but things turned south when Robbie died after the car crashed into a wall. Tears of a Tiger is about how Andy Jackson can't get over the fact that his best friend died since Andy thinks it's his entire fault.
Andy is 17 years old in his senior year at Hazelwood High School. He plays varsity basketball and after the death of his best friend Robbie, Andy became the captain of the team and really stepped up his game. Ever since the accident, Andy starts to slack off in class and get bad grades. Andy is the kind of guy who keeps his emotions in and doesn't want to tell anybody about how he is feeling inside. He constantly thinks about the accident and believes that it is his fault. His girlfriend, Keisha, is the only person he feels comfortable enough to talk to. Andy also has a shrink, but Andy fools him along with everybody else about how he is coping with the accident.
The death of his best friend Robbie is the reason why Andy can't sleep without a nightmare at night. Everyone around Andy doesn't know what kind of pain he is going through; especially his parents, who think that Andy's problems were fixed after his visits to the psychologist.
I do not recommend this novel because the whole book is just so depressing. Andy constantly thinks about the accident and how it was his fault because he was the driver and the one who bought the beers. He can't find anyone to talk about his problems about, especially after he and Keisha break up. Tears of Tiger reminded me of the movie The Pursuit of Happiness because it was so depressing, but at least The Pursuit of Happiness had a happy ending. Sharon Draper made the book an easy read because it was all in quotes; it was a page-turner at the end when he can't find anyone to talk to about his problems, but the end made the book horrible. It was realistic, but I like happy endings so I did not like this book.


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This article has 7 comments.


abby00 said...
on Jan. 26 2013 at 4:53 pm
wow you spoiler

on Jun. 5 2012 at 9:42 am
CrystalAngelDol SILVER, Queens, New York
7 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Never tell your problems to anyone...20% don&#039;t care and the other 80% are glad you have them.<br /> - Lou Holtz

"TheGuy" thanks for ruining the ending.......

shaffer.;0 said...
on May. 31 2011 at 4:04 pm
THe book was a good book. Its the type that has short little chapters and you say you are going to finish to this point then end up reading the whole book. It is kind of boring in the middle but you get to know how all the friends feel which doesn't make it boring for me, but certain people. i would recommd it to whomever wanted a book with real almost alive drama! :))

on Oct. 20 2010 at 6:14 pm
kitkat95 SILVER, Lake Worth, Florida
5 articles 0 photos 22 comments

aesome in the begining, boring in the middle and very unxpected at the end

loved it


TheGuy said...
on Sep. 29 2009 at 4:59 pm
Awesome book. Unexpected suicide.

on Mar. 28 2009 at 1:32 pm
loved it!!!!!

hahahahaha25 said...
on Mar. 17 2009 at 3:54 am
best book EVER!!!!