Tangerine

Rating:
Summary: a refreshing new voice in young adult literature
Review: Tangerine is a teen coming-of-age story you can really sink your teeth into - but be careful, this one bites back! Edward Bloor has done a phenomenal job of weaving some thought-provoking social and environmental issues into this teenage tale of self-discovery and self-respect, with an underlying theme of the imbalance of sports-worship in our society.

The book is not a mystery per se, but it has elements of the mystery novel: how did Paul Fisher lose most of his eyesight? What are the haunting memories that tease, torment, and elude him? Who is robbing Paul's neighborhood pond of the resident koi fish? Who is robbing Paul's neighbors of their valuables?

Paul Fisher is a young man to be contended with as he seeks to find the truth in himself, and the painful honesty of the events that have shaped his young life. We just wish Bloor would give us someone else to admire in this novel of the hype and shallow hypocrisies of the suburban school sports scene.

Ultimately, the ambiguity that makes Paul Fisher, A.K.A. "Mars" and "Fish-Man", a three-dimensional character, and that makes life in Tangerine, Florida akin to life in a real-world suburban community, is also the achilles tendon of the novel. It's strength, in the end, has also become it's weakness.

While lamenting his parents' (and the community's) sports-mania imbalance, Paul Fisher also revels in his own sports accomplishments and in the glory it brings to him, if for but a fleeting moment. While decrying the violence of his sociopath brother, Paul Fisher revels in the war mentality and bloodletting of his own team associates. While contemning the brutality of the "gangsta" culture, Paul Fisher revels in being feared as a 'bad dude' when an impulsive act of violence puts him at odds with the authorities.

This is a minor flaw, possibly erring only by degree (a subjective matter at best), outweighted by the strengths of a strong plot, convincing simile, strong character development (in the case of the protagonist), and hard-hitting action scenes that at times are outright stunning.

A good read. I would like to see a sequel, or even a series. Paul Fisher, like Grisham's Ricky Sway (The Client) is a teen character worth spending time with.

Rating:
Summary: Misleading
Review: This is a warning for people who reley on the back and the first few chapters of a book. The first half of the book is extremely different then the second half. The back is misleading altogether. It seems that the author wrote the back and the first half with some dark, magical, demonic conspericy going on. The second half gives no explenation to the phenominal events, such as underground fires and litening with a tendency to hit people, and his best friend becomes a jerk abruptly. In the second half, it becomes more of a mystery novel, with Paul trying to figure out why he lost his eyesight, and his friend returns to being a saint. It is a good book though, besides these flaws.

Rating:
Summary: needs more depth
Review: I might have liked this better if I were still a teenager and a soccer fan. Paul was a well-drawn character, easy to sympathize with and easy to care about. However, I longed for a little ambiguity when it came to Eric. He was clearly an adolescent psychopath, yet having the line drawn between good and evil so clearly is dull; you can just turn on the TV or rent a movie. Books work when there's depth to more than the narrator: that way we have to think about what's going on rather than just going along for the ride.

Also, I found it odd that there was no police investigation into the multiple deaths until the end, but then I don't live in a football-worshipping town. Tangerine made me very glad I didn't.

Last, I also felt the author pulled the rug out from under us with the character of Joey - first he was a likeable guy, and then a racist jerk with an attitude. But you had to give Bloor credit there for not being predictable.

Rating:
Summary: Be sure to eat a tangerine before reading
Review: Paul Fisher is a normal kid except for one thing, he has huge glasses. He doesn't remember how he got them, maybe from staring at a solar eclipse, but all he knows is that he has them. He has just moved to Tangerine county, Florida. The thing that sets this book though is his brother, Erik Fisher, who can kick a 50-yard field goal with deadly accuracy, because of this he is one of the towns hero's. But what everybody else see's isn't the true Erik, only one person can see the truth about him and that happens to be his little brother Paul. Paul is also on his school's smash-mouth soccer team the Tangerine War Eagles. All in all it is a very good book and it sometimes can be almost impossible to set it down.

Rating:
Summary: Being blind doesn't mean Anything...
Review: Sometimes things are not the way they look. Paul Fisher, a 12 year old legally blind boy is the only one in his new town to know the real truth about his brother erik.
The Fisher family used to live in Huston, Texas but for some job reasons they were sent to Tangerine, Florida. Tangerine is a strange place were lightings strike every day at the same time, were there's never ending underground burns, and were sinkholes happen very often. When the Fisher family arrived, the entire town was interested in Paul's brother Erik because they had heard he was one of the best football players of his age in Texas.
Paul has no attention from his family since they already have the "famous" Erik. But Paul has a strange feeling about his new life. He always wondered why was Tangerine such a weird place, or why a kid like him fitted in the toughest group in his school. The one thing that Paul really wanted to know about, was that why did he have this strange feeling which said that his brother Erik was behind every terrible thing that happened to him. During all this confusion that ran into Paul's mind, he suddenly starts getting flashbacks that brought up terrible memories. Paul starts telling his memories to his friends, but he didn't dare to tell them to his family. The time finally came when Paul had the strength to tell his mom all his horrible memories, and for the first time his family believed him. Soon everybody starts to believe him, and Paul discovers what his strange feeling was trying to tell him all his young life. By reading this thrilling book, you will be surprised, as you will feel being next to Paul Fisher in every scene he is in, and will become a part of him.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!Rushed Ending
Review: When you think of tangerines, you think of fruit, in this book, you think of a severely messed up neighborhood. Paul Fisher is a resident of this so called messed up neighborhood, along with his brother Eric. Paul is a great kid who is always overlooked by his parents to his "amazing" brother Eric. Although Eric isn't that amazing. The book is great for all ages but would be best for teenagers. The book is very good but the ending is a little rushed. Other than that it is a great book!!!

Rating:
Summary: A very good book!!
Review: This book is a very good one I Personily do not like to read books, but are teacher gave us a selection of books and told us a lil bit about them, and when she told us about Tangerine I could picture the scenes she was giving to us and I love it when you can really visulise what is goin on in the book and you dont get lost. I would recomend this book to all teen readers.

Rating:
Summary: an excelent book!!
Review: I found this book very interesting and with a very good message. It shows that you don't have to have super powers to be a hero! You can even be legally blind! This book has a good plot and is very thrilling. It keeps you guessing until the very end. The book is very visual. You can picture the sceens in your mind very well. I suggest this book to all teen readers. It is really good!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: The book of Tangerine is the best book I read in a very long time. It is about a boy named Paul who moved from Houston, Texas to Tangerine, FL. Paul is ready but Tangerine is not expecting the arrival of this very odd family from Texas. The thing I have to say about this book is that if you want to read a awesome book then this is the one for you and much more.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I loved the book. The struggle between 2 brothers is great. One knows something about the brother that he shouldn't know and he battles over that the whole book. It's a really great book-definitely for someone in middle school.