What really makes this book great, though, is Paul and his experiences at a new school with new friends and enemies and a new soccer team. Even if you do not like soccer, you will like this book. It is a great mystery that is funny and dark at the same time. Really, you will not be sorry you did. Dec 05, Jonathan rated it it was amazing. I think the story was funny and sad but cool because Paul played soccer and he thought he was the best goaley in the world.
And then Paul moves to a new town call tangerine he meets a new friend Joey and they both play soccer and tangerine middle school. Then a sink hole comes and destroys the school and Paul goes to a new school tangerine middle then he meets new friends and then at the end they Paul's bother and his friend goes to jail for killing pauls friends brother.
Jan 27, Donalyn rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: everyone. Shelves: ya-realistic-fiction. This book made it into my top ten of all time the day I read it and has never left.
It has everything I like in a book- funky setting, offbeat characters, and a great story. One of those rare books that is loved by almost everyone who reads it. Feb 17, Ricardo Juarez rated it it was amazing. Erick can be a men person because he made fun o f mike Costello. Paul thinks that Erik is a mean and cruel person. May 22, Chris Thompson rated it it was ok. Edward Bloor's novel, Tangerine, has too many different plots and themes to have an identity. On one hand it is a soccer story; on another hand it is a story about race and the urban school setting; also it's a story about a boy who can't remember something bad that happened to him long ago.
It works best as a soccer story, as the other two stories grow cliche and uninteresting. It's not that this is a bad story. For the first pages it's an engrossing tale, but it's in the last pages tha Edward Bloor's novel, Tangerine, has too many different plots and themes to have an identity. For the first pages it's an engrossing tale, but it's in the last pages that the story begins to go downhill. Way downhill. Because of his dad's work situation, Paul Fisher and his family have moved to Tangerine Country, Florida, a place where tangerine oranges aren't quite as common as they once were.
Despite his thick glasses, Paul sees a lot of things nobody else does. For one, he's touchy about being called legally blind. My first hope was that he was in denial of his physical defect, but as the story goes on it's clear that his eyesight is fine.
It's Paul's parents who insist he's legally blind - they're the ones in denial. This sets the tone for the sophistication level of the novel. Rather than feature an unreliable narrator, it features a middle school teenager who knows more than the adults. Paul knows that his brother, Erik, is a bad person. Everyone else, especially his father, only see a future professional football kicker, and the star of his new high school team. Some of the aspects regarding Erik are quite effective.
We get a glimpse at parents who witness, firsthand, some of the atrocities their son carries out, but choose to turn a blind eye as though they don't want to admit that side exists. Paul also knows the real reason why it is the town's expensive koi have been disappearing from the pond. The adults are just too dim to notice it themselves. What Paul is most interested in, however, is soccer. He tries out for the middle school team, but because his mom labeled him as legally blind he is not eligible to play.
However, a large sinkhole destroys more than half of the school, which is made up of portable classrooms, and Paul decides to take the option of transferring to Tangerine Middle School. Tangerine Middle is a tough place. It's an urban district where whites are in the minority, but it's an opportunity for Paul to begin his soccer hobby anew. He tries out for the largely Hispanic soccer team, sans the legally blind tag, and makes it as a reserve goaltender. What I like about the soccer elements is that they are nice and easygoing.
The focus isn't on glory and victory though the team is very good , and Bloor seems to be making the point that the importance of sport is not to win, but to improve one's self and create positive relations with others.
Though Paul is technically the back-up goalie, which inevitably means he'll get his big chance at the end, for the most part he plays offensive positions, and it turns out he's not a bad soccer player. He solidifies his position on the team when, after taking over for the team's best player, he scores a goal.
That player, Victor, slaps him a high-five and all tensions regarding Paul's higher-class status disappear. The novel's attempts to develop the relations between Paul and his teammates off the field, however, fall flat. This is largely because the Hispanic characters are one-dimensional and the off-the-field meetings are too forced.
Paul becomes closest with Tino, and we learn that Tino's older brother, Luis, is busy inventing a new type of tangerine. Paul spends time at Tino's hut and learns about tangerine trees, and in one crucial moment even helps protect the young trees during a freeze.
Learning about the tangerine trees served as the novel's dullest moments, particularly during the freeze. Don't get me wrong, I love gardening, but the sections with the tangerine trees do nothing to move the story forward or provide any memorable information about the trees. The reader just learns what a chore it is to do the job - and to read about it. The story involves a lot of freak environmental occurrences, such as the sinkhole. Lightning suddenly strikes a kid on the football field, and the suburbs are plagued with the smell of an ever-burning muck fire.
These environmental issues seem to serve as a warning - no matter how much money you have you can't escape mother nature. The upper-class families that live in the suburbs attempt to fix the problems with money, to no avail. Some of the problems, in fact, occur because of greed and vanity. What other reason are football practices held during the most lightning-prone time of the day?
The football team wants victory at all costs. Even in the sinkhole we learn about gross negligence that could have prevented damage to the school property. As nice as these themes are, they do little to prevent the novel from delving into strange territory for the novel's final act. The soccer season serves as the story's anchor.
Soccer season is the one constant surrounded by many of the events described above. So once page hits and soccer season is over, the novel loses its anchor and drifts into bad seas. Characters begin behaving in bizarre ways. Late in the novel, Paul makes horrible decisions for the sake of his Hispanic friends and, strangely, the novel seems to condone what he does. Characters undergo convenient changes as though suddenly realizing the error of their ways.
Characters also become one-dimensional, or at least they are more noticeably one-dimensional. The tragedy is that the novel was rather good for a long while. It's a shame Bloor wasn't able to stay true to his characters and his story. The novel ends up doing too much, when it would have benefited from further developing a single story line. This just might be the greatest debut novel since Brian Jacques had "Redwall" published in the mids, and I do not say that without much pause.
The pulse-pounding ebb and flow of Edward Bloor's fantastic story grabbed me by the throat from the very first pages and never relinquished its grip through harrowing twist after harrowing twist. Action and adventure of a rarely seen superiority flood over and under and within the text all the way through, transforming the perception of the reader a This just might be the greatest debut novel since Brian Jacques had "Redwall" published in the mids, and I do not say that without much pause.
Action and adventure of a rarely seen superiority flood over and under and within the text all the way through, transforming the perception of the reader and plunging him or her directly into the cataclysms of the protagonist Paul Fisher and those who are in his life. Tangerine moves along with brilliant pace and breathtaking speed, never predictable, never anything but extraordinary, never not frightening and mysterious and keenly provocative of every emotion in the spectrum of the human experience.
Edward Bloor also writes tangibly and thoughtfully about human feeling through the eyes and life of a seventh grader, and does so with remarkable depth of perception. There is enough A-1 material in the pages of Tangerine to form three or four high-quality books, but he has blended these glowing pieces into a single rich, vibrant, stirring novel that will not ever be forgotten by anyone who turns its pages, I am sure.
Also, who ever thought that a writer could make soccer seem truly suspenseful and interesting to an American who doesn't take an interest in the game? This was certainly the case for me in relation to this book. I give Tangerine my proud, enthusiastic recommendation, and I now view Edward Bloor as one of a limited number of juvenile novelists to really watch for closely in the future.
Aug 10, Linda Lipko rated it really liked it Shelves: young-adult. This is more than a coming of age story. It is a tale of awakening to the reality that family members can indeed harm, both psychologically and physically.
Thirteen year old Paul Fischer wears super duper coke bottle glasses. His family repeatedly tells the story that unfortunately he looked at a solar eclipse too long thus resulting in his impaired vision. Somehow Paul knows this just isn't true. When his family moves to Tangerine Florida his life changes dramatically. A nerd, a geek and a quiet This is more than a coming of age story. A nerd, a geek and a quiet soul accustomed to watching his parents adore and idolize his older football hero brother, Paul seeks for carve an identify for himself.
When the town of Tangerine crumbles into pockets of sink holes and it is discovered that corrupt officials never followed codes, more than sticky mud invades the consciousness of Paul. While his Pleasant Valley Sunday mom wears just the right clothes and designs her house way beyond Martha Stewart mode, his father the engineer paves the wave for his older son to become the star, at all expense. When the middle school of Tangerine collapses, Paul is transported to a new school, one where there is poverty, toughness and more reality of what life is all about.
Joining the soccer team enables Paul for find friends and a sense of belonging. While his brother remains the high school hero back home, all is not well in the town of Tangerine or the home of the Fischers. When Paul realizes the actual reason he needs to wear thick glasses, he confronts very difficult family dynamics.
Sep 23, Kunal rated it liked it. I liked this book for quite a few reasons. The characters were really good and they developed quite a bit since the start of the book, especially Tino.
There was also a nice plot, keeping me engaged in. It was a big slow towards the first few pages but the last pages were quite interesting and picked up very well. But still, there wasn't enough in this book to get it a four star. Needless to say, this was a good book and I'm glad I picked it up. Jan 26, Laura rated it it was amazing. Tangerine took a lot of unexpected turns from the sink hole to deaths. As you read you truly understand the problems Paul has to go through.
Also the stereotypes,for example when Paul got told there was only one team he was shocked,he got told a lot of times that the soccer teams had to be separated his old school,lake Windsor Middle,. Jan 08, Kahleia Corpuz rated it really liked it.
It's a really good book. The exposition was really iffy for me and not that great. When we got towards the turning point, everything really started to interesting quick. I really liked how it ended even though this book was kind of hard to end. Jan 08, Armando Torres rated it it was amazing. This bbokk is very good because it talk about how people are treated with disabilities Nov 10, Nicholas rated it did not like it.
One of the worst books. Readers also enjoyed. Young Adult. Realistic Fiction. About Edward Bloor. Edward Bloor. Father to a daughter and a son. Education: Fordham University, B. Career: Novelist and editor. Media Adaptations: Tangerine audiobook, Recorded Books, Story Time audiobook, Recorded Books, London Calling audiobook, Recorded Books, Books by Edward Bloor.
Related Articles. Tami Charles is a former teacher and the author of picture books, middle grade and young adult novels, and nonfiction. As a teacher, she made Read more Trivia About Tangerine. Quotes from Tangerine. I can see everything. I can see things that mom and dad can't. Or won't. Please enter the message.
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Find a copy in the library Finding libraries that hold this item Though legally blind, Paul Fisher can see what others cannot. He can see that his parents' constant praise of his brother, Erik, the football star, is to cover up something that is terribly wrong.
But no one listens to Paul - until his family moves to Tangerine. Maybe this new start in Tangerine will help Paul finally see the truth about his past. Read more Reviews User-contributed reviews Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers.
Be the first. Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. That entry would have been telling about the events of Wednesday. Overall Rating: 4. Support our writers and help keep Redeemed Reader ad-free. Learn More. Get Equipped. When she reads ahead for you, she uses sticky notes instead of book darts and willfully dog ears pages even in library books.
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