Tangerine - Hardcover

Bloor, Edward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 015201246X ISBN 13: 9780152012465

Publisher: Clarion Books, 1997

Synopsis

Paul Fisher sees the world from behind glasses so thick he looks like a bug-eyed alien. But he's not so blind that he can't see there are some very unusual things about his family's new home in Tangerine County, Florida. Where else does a sinkhole swallow the local school, fire burn underground for years, and lightning strike at the same time every day?The chaos is compounded by constant harassment from his football-star brother, and adjusting to life in Tangerine isn't easy for Paul--until he joins the soccer team at his middle school. With the help of his new teammates, Paul begins to discover what lies beneath the surface of his strange new hometown. And he also gains the courage to face up to some secrets his family has been keeping from him for far too long.In Tangerine, it seems, anything is possible.

About this title

Review:

"A richly imagined read about an underdog coming into his own."--Bulletin

* "Smart, adaptable, and anchored by a strong sense of self-worth, Paul makes a memorable protagonist in a cast of vividly drawn characters; multiple yet taut plotlines lead to a series of gripping climaxes and revelations. Readers are going to want more from this author."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Breaks the mold."--Publishers Weekly ABA's Pick of the Lists An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book A Horn Book Fanfare Selection An IRA Young Adults' Choice A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

From the Author:

Starred review in Kirkus Reviews, February 1
"A legally blind seventh-grader with clearer vision than most wins acceptance in a new Florida school as his football-hero older brother self-destructs in this absorbing, multi-stranded debut. Paul's thick lenses don't keep him from being a first-rate soccer goalie, but they do make him, willy-nilly, a "handicapped" student and thus, according to his new coach, ineligible to play. After a giant sinkhole swallows much of the ramshackle school, Paul is able to transfer to another school where, with some parental collusion, he can keep his legal status a secret. It turns out to be a rough place, where "minorities are in the majority," but Paul fits himself in, playing on the superb soccer team (as a substitute for one of the female stars of the group) and pitching in when a freeze threatens the citrus groves. Bloor fills in the setting with authority and broad irony: In Tangerine County, Florida, groves are being replaced by poorly designed housing developments through which drift clouds of mosquitoes and smoke from unquenchable "muck fires." Football is so big that not even the death of a player struck by lightning during practice gets in the way of NFL dreams: no one, including Paul's parents, see how vicious and amoral his brother, Erik, is off the field. Smart, adaptable, and anchored by a strong sense of self-worth, Paul makes a memorable protagonist in a cast of vividly drawn characters; multiple yet taut plotlines lead to a series of gripping climaxes and revelations. Readers are going to want more from this author."

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 015201246X
• ISBN 13: 9780152012465
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 294