Tears of a Tiger

Title: Tears of a Tiger
Author: Sharon Draper
Publisher: Simon Pulse
City: New York
Year: 1994

I ripped through the pages of Draper’s tragic tale in Tears of a Tiger barely able to put the book down. The novella opens with blunt news article describing the brutal and tragic death of Hazelwood High School’s star basketball player, Robert Washington. He dies in a fiery car accident where his best friend Andrew Jackson (better know as Andy) is driving the car. Three out of the four passengers, including Andy and Robert, were drinking. The emotional novella discusses very in-depth themes such as death, suicide, guilt, underage drinking and depression.

Andy struggles for many days after the accident. He is faced with much guilt over the death of his best friend and pays the ultimate price for his actions. I expected the novella to be a typical story of the black youth who struggles academically and excels athletically. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by the text. If you were to strip away the racial make-up of the school you would be left with a gripping story of youngsters playing with the flames and life, only to get burned in the process.