Over The Indications Tears Of A Tiger, By Sharon M. Draper

I chose this book because it was recommended to me by a good friend of mine back in high school, but I never got around to reading it. The reason she recommended this book was because I had just lost a childhood friend in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. This book was a very interesting and really sad. The author Sharon M. Draper did a magnificent job making the reader feel as if they were there every step of the way. I believe that there were many themes in this book. The main one being “Depression”, Sharon Draper utilizes Andy Jackson's character to represent the movement of depression, especially in kids and teens, and to note how apparently simple it is for those people around a person facing depression miss or disregard the indications

The books opens with a newspaper article around a car wreck that killed the town's star basketball player, Robbie Wachington. Andy was the driver of the car and his three friends, Robbie, B.j., and Tyrone were also in the car when the accident occurred. Three of the young men were drinking which was the main reason for the accident happening in the first place. Andy, B.j., and Tyron all left the scene with minor wounds. The memory that haunts Andy the most is, him listening to Robbie shout to him, "Andy! Andy! Help me--Help me--Oh God, please don't let me die like this! Andy!..." (14), and the pictures of Robbie's Nike's standing out of the

Andy and his father have a long discussion acclimatizing into the "white world" and attending at going to college to be something great and be very successful at it. This is just the beginning of the end for Andy.

That same night, Andy tries to call his psychologist and he doesn't pick up. Andy chooses he will attempt and call his basketball coach who has been truly strong of Andy all through the school year. Yet, once more he is taken to voice mail. Finally, Andy tries to call Keisha however her mother answers and shouts at Andy for trying to call really late at night. Andy begins to feel as if there is no more hope.

The following day, Andy leaves for school yet turns around half way and backtracks to his home. Alone in his home, feeling like nobody cares about him, Andy brings an end to his life with his father's riffle. The story ends with Andy's brother, Monty, saying goodbye to Andy at his gravesite, and said “But I’ll always love you, and I’ll always miss you, and I’ll never forget that it’s okay to put dragons in the jungle and tears on a tiger” (180). He said this because earlier in the book when he was drawing tears on a tiger his teacher said that it was wrong, and Andy told him that it was okay to do that. It was even okay to put a dragon in a