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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I've just re-read this book after 30 years and I'm surprised at how well it's stood the test of time. Still an excellent read that covers grief, and guilt while also touching on racism, teen-drinking and pressure to conform. Judy Blume still rocks.
Plot:
The plot for this one was interesting, but I felt like it was a condensed book that just barely dipped below the surface.
Setting:
I really enjoyed the settings. First you have Atlantic City and then you have Los Alamos, New Mexico, which has some interesting history. The descriptions made both places seem real.
Characters:
Davey was an easy person to like and connect to. It's difficult not to feel for her. I would have liked to see a little more depth to the book and all of the characters, but for the most part her character developed well as learned how to cope without her dad.
I also really liked Davey's little brother and her mother. It was neat seeing how they all coped with the loss of the dad.
Wolf's father and Wolf were nice side characters, though I would have liked to see more of Wolf. He doesn't seem to be in the book nearly long enough.
Relationships:
Family relationships were the main focus, and while I found the relationships with the childless aunt and uncle interesting, what really intrigued me was how Davey's relationship developed with her mother and brother.
There's a few other vague romantic relationships, but none were strong enough to really make me feel one way or another. This book seemed to be more about family and how to live after than anything.
Writing/Voice:
Although her books are beginning to feel a bit outdated, Judy Blume has great writing and a voice that still snares readers today. Davey's POV seemed very realistic.
Ending:
I liked the ending well enough, though I liked the scene with just Davey and her mother best of all.
This is not my favorite of Blume's novels, but a pretty decent book about learning to live on after the death of a family member.
I'm sad I never picked this up when I was a kid. I would have loved it desperately then. I liked it a lot reading it now, but it wasn't the same. Dated in parts, but in a good way.
I found myself analyzing the adults' actions a lot, and finding them for the most part believable. And Wolf. Mmmm, love those dramatic and mysterious boys, still.
Also I wondered if perhaps Dewey from A Green Glass Sea owes her name to Davey? An extremely subtle tip of the hat, or my overactive imagination?
I found myself analyzing the adults' actions a lot, and finding them for the most part believable. And Wolf. Mmmm, love those dramatic and mysterious boys, still.
Also I wondered if perhaps Dewey from A Green Glass Sea owes her name to Davey? An extremely subtle tip of the hat, or my overactive imagination?
“Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.”I liked the last half more than the first, but, overall, it was an engaging story about both coming of age and overcoming grief.
It was very realistic the way it was handled, though I did find her family infuriating at times: her mother completely vacated and left her kids to be raised by her overbearing sister and her control-freak of a husband while she dealt with what had happened. On one hand, parents are humans with feeling and they go through traumas like everybody else, on the other hand, kids don't ask to be born into this world and being a parent is a 24/7 job so you can't just tune out like that and leave your children at the mercy of people who were a little better than strangers just a while back. I appreciated how it was all concluded though.
This book really surprised me. It's forty years old and I wasn't sure how relevant it would be now, but the themes of grief and family still resonate. I think the biggest difference is how teenagers seem to grow up faster now with social media and access to information. Davey is only fifteen, but it's a very different fifteen compared to now. I really felt for her, not only was her dad murdered in front of her, but her mom uproots them across the country and checks out. Her aunt and uncle are racist and immediately take over parenting. When her uncle tells Davey her parents wasted their lives and then slaps her, I wanted to jump into the book to defend her. Her mom also wasn't a good parent for most of the story, she was too caught up in her grief to talk to her daughter or get her help. She just let Davey drown.
This really impacted me and I got very attached to Davey. I'm glad her friendship with Wolf never moved beyond that, he's way too old for her at this point. He just helped her deal with her grief and that was sweet. The ending is hopeful and I found this to be a great read.
This really impacted me and I got very attached to Davey. I'm glad her friendship with Wolf never moved beyond that, he's way too old for her at this point. He just helped her deal with her grief and that was sweet. The ending is hopeful and I found this to be a great read.
This was one of the first YA novels I ever read, which is appropriate considering how much of a legend Judy Blume is in the genre. Tiger Eyes is one of those books that even years later still scatter weird details about your memory. I remember (among other things): a shooting, a father with cancer, a canyon, and a cousin. So all of this is to say, I wasn't terribly impressed with Tiger Eyes when I first read it, but nostalgia is a strange thing, it weathers and erodes our opinions until they are unrecognizable. I am nostalgic for my early days of reading the YA genre (5 years and I feel like a seasoned professional) and I am not at all embarrassed to rate a book almost solely on that nostalgia. Also: I should reread this sometime.
I was in love with Wolf. Let me start there. I loved him. He made me want to run into the wilderness and find a guy like him but I knew not to do that for real.
I felt everything the protagonist felt. I was so sad for her and I just wanted her to find a way to be happy.
This book opened up the Judy Blume floodgates for me.
I felt everything the protagonist felt. I was so sad for her and I just wanted her to find a way to be happy.
This book opened up the Judy Blume floodgates for me.
This is the last of Judy Blume's major books that I haven't read. (I don't know how I missed so many when I was growing up.)
This is such an interesting book and there's a lot going on. After Davey's father was murdered, the family moves to New Mexico and her mom emotionally checks out for a while. Davey's aunt and uncle are taking care of her and her little brother now and they are...well, "overprotective" is putting it mildly. (Although it cracks me up a little that one of the examples of them being overprotective is that they make Davey wear a helmet when she rides her bike and that's incredibly commonplace now.)
Meanwhile, Davey spends a lot of time rebelling against them. Part of that is because she finds these rules completely ridiculous (and also, how do they have any sort of right to give her rules anyway? She's not their kid.) But she's also just angry. She's angry that her dad was killed, angry that her mom is completely MIA, angry that they're now in a weird town away from her friends and boyfriend...basically angry at everything (and justifiably so.)
I think this book would be so valuable for anyone who loses a parent at a young age. (Even if it's due to something else, like a car accident or cancer.) Grieving takes a lot of different forms, and there is a lot of anger involved, not just sadness. It would really help kids feel a little less isolated in their grief.
Highly recommended.
This is such an interesting book and there's a lot going on. After Davey's father was murdered, the family moves to New Mexico and her mom emotionally checks out for a while. Davey's aunt and uncle are taking care of her and her little brother now and they are...well, "overprotective" is putting it mildly. (Although it cracks me up a little that one of the examples of them being overprotective is that they make Davey wear a helmet when she rides her bike and that's incredibly commonplace now.)
Meanwhile, Davey spends a lot of time rebelling against them. Part of that is because she finds these rules completely ridiculous (and also, how do they have any sort of right to give her rules anyway? She's not their kid.) But she's also just angry. She's angry that her dad was killed, angry that her mom is completely MIA, angry that they're now in a weird town away from her friends and boyfriend...basically angry at everything (and justifiably so.)
I think this book would be so valuable for anyone who loses a parent at a young age. (Even if it's due to something else, like a car accident or cancer.) Grieving takes a lot of different forms, and there is a lot of anger involved, not just sadness. It would really help kids feel a little less isolated in their grief.
Highly recommended.
