Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

by Ron Koertge

Book Overview

Worried that his mother will send his beloved grandfather to a nursing home "for his own good," Jesse and some of his eighth-grade classmates accompany Pappy into the mountains near their small California town to look for the tiger tracks he claims to have seen.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038072474X
• ISBN13: 9780380724741
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

funny, touching, relevant

This is a truly delightful little book that adults as well as kids could love: delightfully written full of funny, irreverent sarcasm, it tells of a teenage boy and single mother battling over how to handle a grandfather who is sliding into Alzheimer's. In the end they come to work on this as a family together, so it's a great "message" tale. Alzheimer's can rip a family apart: this one chooses to face it, but after very realistic "messiness." It's also a tale of a crumbling town in California crippled by drought, and explains what that means to the people and land there rather clearly and poignantly, so it's also a great "environmental message" tale for those who don't yet "get" what environmental degradation (like drought) means on a personal level. For an adult, it's a light and quick read: I plan to purchase several for gifts.

A OK Book

This book is funny. It is about Jesse and his grandpa. Growing up in Texas, Jesse is a wannabe cowboy - who looks up to his grandpa - a true cowboy. His grandfather is getting old and forgetful; he falls asleep while cooking beans, and Jesse's mother is threatening to send him to a old age home. Jesse thinks that he is fine at home, and should not be at one with only old people. I really enjoyed the book, it was funny and sad too. --Tim Britton