Tiger Flowers

Attempting to tackle the weighty topic of losing a loved one to AIDS, Quinlan ( Anna's Red Sled ) produces a book full of good intentions but marred by evasions. Her story centers on Joel, who copes with his grief at his uncle Michael's death by recalling the happy times they shared, including visiting the zoo, creating a picture book and planting a garden of tiger lilies (the ``tiger flowers'' of the equivocal title). While it is stated early on that Michael had AIDS, the disease and its effects are mentioned only twice, once in a tacked-on, indirect statement about its transmission (``He told me that I couldn't catch AIDS by being near him the way I caught the chicken pox from Tara''). Equally vague is the relationship between Michael and his ``best friend,'' a young man who has also died of AIDS. On one level, this is a simple, warm story about the power of love and remembrance to overcome pain, with Wilson's ( Daniel's Dogs ) sunny, color- and light-filled paintings mirroring Joel's fond memories. But the timid, side-stepping approach to the complex issues of AIDS and homosexuality is likely to raise more questions than it answers. Ages 5-up. (May)