Tears of a tiger (Draper 82-162)

Summary:

Since the death of Robert, people have not been seeing the light in life. Andy began to think, what if his younger brother died.  It would be tragic because he has a good future just as Robert.  But when he thinks about his future he sees nothing but darkness. Andy feels as if he is to blame and he shouldn’t live anymore, as he said in his letter to Roberts parents. All he does is reminisce about the old times when he was alive. The story then shifts to explain and talk about Andy’s family and life with his girlfriend named Keisha. At the same time while some of them are feeling miserable, their also reflecting off Robert’s death, now cherishing friendship even more. Andy’s life began to go down the drain. The death hurt his feelings; he got a disease (senioritis) which later on killed him. The book ends with his younger brother writing a letter to him, expressing his feelings. His life and his emotions are similar because they shift. One moment he cherishing life the other he thinks he doesn’t deserve life. the book continues with journal entry about emotions all the character go threw not only about Robert death but about a lot more. Such as Andy’s younger brother last entry. His entry was written to Andy as a way for him to get a load off his chest, since the day Andy died. This letter was a way to talk about how life wil be without him but different from Andy. He seen and learned from Andy reactions to his friend death but he made his reaction different by changing his life in a positive e way

Quote:

“I’ll never forget that it’s okay to put a dragon in the jungle and tears on a tiger”

Reaction:

My reaction to the book was how realistic this book could be. Many people could relate to the characters, one of which is Andy.  Being on a basketball team, I know how it feels to have ups and downs, to feel terrific after a victory. But if we lose a game and I feel as though it’s my fault for the loss, things get emotional. Feelings can become overwhelming and tough to hide. Andy isn’t a character who wears his emotions on his sleeves. He tends to keep back, and express himself through writing. This quote is the second best if found in book because it saying it’s ok to be put in a predicament where you don’t know how to react or know anything about a situation. As Andy didn’t know how to react to his friend death being put in that situation that often left him confused.  Its ok to put tears on a tiger because its ok to cry even when you haft to be strong for others. As Andy had to be strong for his brother and cry sometimes because reality is the hurtful truth.