WARNING: You will need Adobe Flash Player 6 or above to view this website. Click here to download it or here if you know you already have it. WARNING: You will need Adobe Flash Player 6 or above to view this website. Click here to download it or here if you know you already have it. A Testimony from a Teacher on TEARS OF A TIGER Sharon M. Draper's Tears of A Tiger - The Secret Weapon By Tina Ichord Johansson (used by permission) There are hundreds of excellent young adult titles that I recommend to my eighth graders for their literature circle groups the first week of school, but I have discovered a secret weapon title. I reserve this title for the one group of kids I have every year who moan and groan when I mention the word reading. It usually goes like this: all of the groups have chosen a title from my recommended list, have made a trip to the library on their own, have checked out enough copies for their entire group, and are ready to read on the assigned day; all but one group. This group sits angrily in their circle. They sit scowling, blaming each other for not having come up with a title to read. "Ms. Ichord Johansson," one will say, "he," pointing at a student in the group, "was supposed to go to the library and get the books, but he didn't." That student whines a denial and proceeds to point at someone else who he claims was supposed to get the books. Finally someone says that this is stupid because they aren't going to read the book anyway. As the other groups eagerly flip through the pages of their chosen title and discuss how many chapters they're going to read that night, I quietly walk to my tall cabinet in the back of the room. I unlock the cabinet, reach to the very back, and pull out five copies of Tears of A Tiger by Sharon M. Draper. With a calm and confident smile I walk back to my "reluctant" group. "Oh no, now we have to read a book she's chosen for us," one of the students rolls her eyes. I pass out the books, help the students assign chapters and the roles I have given them from Harvey Daniels's book Literature Circles, and ask them to quietly read the first chapter. I walk off to monitor the progress of the rest of the class. When I return, the group is still quietly reading. I tell them to finish up the reading at home and I will sit with them tomorrow.The next day that same group hurries into class anxious to tell me about the book. "Ms. Ichord Johansson, this is the best book I've ever read. Is it ok I went ahead?" Every single time it's the same thing. Tears of A Tiger is the book that has made so many of my non-readers become readers. When they finish the book, two things amaze them: first, they actually read an entire book from beginning to end on their own; second, they loved it! They tell all of their friends about the book and the title ends up being read by the majority of my approximately ninety students, ranging from struggling readers to advanced readers. Out of all of my students who have read Tears of A Tiger, I have only had three who didn't like it. One was a Caucasian male who felt the novel presented white people too negatively. He was referring to the theme of racism that runs through the story. While it's not the dominant theme, Draper's main character Andy, an African-American teenager, describes being treated unfairly by adults because of his race. Most of my students (of all ethnicities and races) like this part of the book because they feel it's realistic. The other two students who didn't like the book said they just didn't like the "simple" way in which it is written. The style of Tears of A Tiger is exactly what most students love about the book. The chapters are extremely short (some are only a page and a half long), and the story is told through letters, newspaper articles, school assignments, and dialogue using teenage slang. Students tell me it feels real. Also, students of all reading levels and ethnicities love Tears of A Tiger because it deals with issues they can relate to: drinking and driving, racism, teenage depression, parental relations, pressure to do well in school, suicide, and losing friends. I require parent permission when using it as a literature circle book, just so parents are aware of the sensitive issues in the novel, but the message that suicide is the wrong choice is clear. Although all levels of my students can't get enough of Tears of A Tiger, I save this secret weapon for my most challenging students. I then let them advertise the book to the rest of the class. For the rest of the year their complaint changes from "I hate to read," to "Why aren't more books like Tears of A Tiger?" This is the perfect segue into a discussion on style of the current classic being read in class, and is a reminder to them that they can enjoy books, so why not give some others a chance! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tina Ichord Johansson teaches English to eighth graders at Teel Middle School, in Empire, near Modesto. She is also a teacher consultant for the Great Valley Writing project.