Tiger Eyes

Summary

                This book is about a girl whose father passed away. Fifteen-year-old Davey was the first person on the scene of her father’s murder. She has vivid memories of the night but has no one to talk to about it. Davey's mother withdraws into herself, to the extent that she accepts the offer of her in-laws to stay with them in a different state. They move from Atlantic City to New Mexico, and Davey finds herself with new rules and a new environment.  Davey has to learn how to deal with her father’s death alone because her mother is trying to deal with it in her own way. She comes to love rock climbing and being out alone until she meets Wolf who helps her heal because his grandfather is dying. Davey realizes that she needs to hold on to the memory of her father’s love for her rather than dwell on his death. Towards the end of the book Davey, her brother, and mother all find a way to communicate and get through their father’s death together.

Evaluation

                I thought this book was a pretty good book. Death is an issue that eventually everyone has to deal with. Not every student at the time will have had a death of a close one, so not every student will be able to relate to this book. This book will be able to help students who have gone through the pain of someone passing away. As students are growing up they like to be alone, and do things by themselves. Most students will be able to relate to Davey when she goes off to rock climb alone.

Theme

                The theme of this book deals with death and grieving. 

Use in Classroom

                This book would be read to an older class. One way you can use this book is if someone in your school has passed away. It can help many children if someone close has passed away. As we were reading the class could discuss the conflicts Davey is facing. They can make predictions on what is going to happen next in the book and see if her family would ever move back home.