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.