Tiger Eyes

Blume, Judy. Tiger Eyes. ISBN-10: 0440984696, ISBN-13: 9780440984696. Laurel Leaf Library. 1982.

Summary
When Davey's dad is shot in a random hold-up at their family's New Jersey shore convenience store, her world is in upheaval. Her mother can't cope, her little brother is behaving improperly, her aunt and uncle are too overbearing in her own house, and her boyfriend… she can't think about what she and Hugh were doing the backyard when her dad was shot. On top of all of that, her mom has let her aunt push the family into moving to New Mexico, where things get much worse and much more confusing. With the help of a stranger, Davey is able to pull her family back together.

Critical Evaluation
Not many young adults will experience something as brutal as this, but some will face losing a parent, an upheaval of their lives and even just moving to another high school, another town, another state. But in this often challenged book, Davey is alone in her misery as her mother is unreachable in her own desolation. Her younger brother has been completely absorbed by her aunt and uncle and doesn't feel like her brother anymore. Davey has to come to terms with her dad's death, the disappearance of her mother and the fear and isolation that threatens to consume her. She finds help in a canyon, from a quiet man who gives her strength to fight back.

Reader's Annotation
Davey's dad has been fatally shot, and now she's being forced to move from her home. A mysterious man she meets in n New Mexican canyon gives her the confidence and strength to pull her family together and work toward healing.

About the Author
Judy Blume was born in New Jersey, and has said that she was always making up stories in her head. It wasn't until her own kids were in school did she start putting them on paper. She has written more than 20 books over the years. In the last 40 years, she has written for children (The Fudge and Pain and the Great One series), for teens (Are You There Go? It's Me Margaret, Then Again, Maybe I Won't, and Forever) and for adults. (Smart Women and Summer Sisters).

To no one's surprise, her adult books have all spent time on the New York Times bestseller's list, while her books for children and young adults are often are challenged and/or banned. Five of her books (Forever, Blubber, Deanie, Tiger Eyes and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret) were on the American Library Association's list of Top Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-09. Because of that scrutiny, she became an advocate for intellectual freedom working with writers, teachers and librarians to protect the freedom to read.

Genre
Banned/Challenged Books
Girls/Women
Death/Dying
Romance
Violence

Curriculum Ties
no applications

Booktalking Ideas
Could you forgive yourself if you were making out with your boyfriend in the backyard, when your dad was fatally shot in a convenience store hold-up…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
This is one of those books I love to share with young adult readers, and I couldn't wait to reread it!