Pages

Monday, August 07, 2006

Book #15 Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper

Book #15, Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper, was a recommendation from a student earlier this year. It's a young adult novel, and I read it at the pool this afternoon. It's about a boy named Andrew and his reaction to the death of his best friend due to him (Andrew) driving drunk. The novel is told from several points of view through conversations, notes passed in class, class assignments, and general internal monologue from Andrew.

It's a short read (obviously, took me only about 3 hours to read start to finish) but it packed a punch. The dialogue and thoughts that rang completely false for me in the first chapter made sense to me at the end.

It's the first book in a trilogy and I'm definitely going to pick up the other two books. Draper was a high school English teacher for 25 years, and reading this book showed me how important it is to stay in touch with the kids. I found myself thinking "teachers aren't like that" and then realizing, "oh, yes, we are."

If you have kids, especially teenagers, consider reading this book. The parents don't shine too brightly either, but they are, I believe, realistic.

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