Tangerine

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, thought provoking, wonderful imagery.
Review: This book has a great story and a good message. I think it has a good ending, too (unlike an earlier review), because it brings closure to many issues, and ends on a uplifting note. I think most teens would enjoy have trouble putting it down!

Rating:
Summary: It's an O.K book.
Review: I read Tangerine a few weeks ago for a book report, and I thought that it's cool how Paul, the main character, even wearing thick glasses, fits in in the toughest group around. But I think that it should finish differently, because it leaves you feeling blank.

Rating:
Summary: A great book with many surprises
Review: If you like mystery, soccer, and sibling rivalry, then Tangerine by Edward Bloor, is the book for you. Paul Fisher is legally blind and he has to wear "bottle-thick, bug-eyed glasses." Even though he is blind, he has an amazing ability to see people for what they really are. When Paul's family moved to Tangerine County, Florida, he got a chance to start over. Paul has grown up in the shadow of his self-obsorbed, football playing brother. His dad worships Paul's brother and never pays attention to him. Paul grows through his experiences at new schools, making friends, playing soccer, and tending a tangerine grove. This book is like many other books I have read. It is very straight forward and easy to understand. Bloor does an amazing job of drawing his reader's in. He hits that there is a secret in the Fisher family and you really want to read on to find out what it is. I read this entire 294 page book in a week. I couldn't put it down. This book was also appealing to me because I play soccer. It was very easy for me to relate to the stresses that come along with playing a sport. I could relate when Paul didn't make a starting position. I have always had to work to make the team. If you don't like soccer this book may not be for you. Soccer isn't the main point of the story, but it is something that Paul identifies with and it is something that he can really relate too. There is also a great deal of soccer "lingo" that may be hard to understand if you don't know about the sport. "Henry D. lifted a beautiful corner kick to Victor, who leaped and headed it into the goal." This would be confusing to anyone who doesn't know much about soccer. Tangerine has some great description in it. "The air had a gray tint to it, and a damp, foul smell like an ashtray." It was very easy to see this newly developed town. It was a great comparison of how Paul's family moving into a new house also represented a new beginning for Paul. It was his chance to make a name for himself. The way Bloor developed Paul was the best aspect of the story. He did a great job of showing how Paul changed through the story. Paul was nothing but the little brother of a great football player at the beginning of the story. But when Paul faced his fear, he learned how to be himself. "When disaster struck, we all had to do something. In a way, we all had to become something." By the end of the story, Paul had become someone. Anyone could read this book, but I recommend it to younger readers. It is not a very challenging plot. It was not too difficult or confusing and it was easy to understand. If you really like exciting plots and plots that make you think about hidden meanings, this book is not for you. Tangerine explains everything out very well and it's easy to follow. I recommend this book because it makes you realize that you need to make the most of your life. That you have to face your fears before you can become who you really want to be.

Rating:
Summary: It was a great book with many satisfying twists and turns
Review: I am ten years old and love to read.Some people say that TANGERINE is just for 13 and up readers but it relates to people of all ages.TANGERINE is the best book I have EVER read and I am trying to get my brother to read it so he can realize he has mental problems too.(ha! ha!)

Rating:
Summary: John Irving for Young Adults
Review: Tangerine contains many of the elements that make John Irving's best works so great. Paul Fisher, a legally blind seventh grader who excels at soccer moves to Tangerine, Florida, with his family. His father's life revolves around the football stardom of Paul's older brother Erik. His mother is mainly concerned with community standards in their upper-class housing development, which is plagued by daily lightning strikes, smoke from a perpetual fire, and mosquito swarms. After half of his suburban middle school is swallowed by a giant sinkhole, Paul finds his place at the more urban Tangerine Middle, where he makes the soccer team and becomes friends with its stars whose families work the citrus groves that are threatened by developments like the one in which he lives. In his first novel, Edward Bloor manages to make strange and bizarre characters and situations believable, and makes heroes out of the most unlikely characters. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a winner!
Review: It contains many elements that young readers love. Mystery, sports, and sibling rivalry are just a few. The main character, Paul is easy to identify with. He is legally blind but doesn't let his handicap stop him. I am a teacher in Florida and my students fought over this book. This book is full of interesting information. I can teach many things through the book that relate to Florida such as; sinkholes, muck fires, lightning, and the citrus industry. This book should be a contender for the Newberry Award as well as a Sunshine State winner. There is even more exciting news, I found out that Mr. Bloor is already working on his second novel which is also set in Florida.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly entertaining ...
Review: A nearly-blind 12-year-old boy plays on a soccer team at a mostly Hispanic school in Florida. He has a psycho brother and goes through lots of weird experiences: a football player is killed by lightning strike, and his old school was swallowed up by a sinkhole ! Surprisingly entertaining, and well worth reading. Reminds us that even being a football star (or by way of extension a star student) means nothing if you are not also a good person.

Rating:
Summary: This should have won an award last year.
Review: Bloor, a new name in YA, has written a wonderful story about a handicapped boy who is struggling with his disability, trying to compete to be recognized like his brother is recognized in the eyes of his father and this boy's emotional trauma that he suffered at the hands of his brother. I just thought that this was a refreshing tale that I could not put down. It's got the mystery quality and sports theme that will appeal to most YA boys. It is in my middle school library and it isoften signed out.

Rating:
Summary: Not appropriate for most 12 year olds!
Review: Psycho siblings and childhood trauma. I'm glad I decided to read this one before giving it to my son. The book has good character development and Mr. Bloor is clearly in touch with kids, but this book is definately for the older teen!! I was haunted by this one and would prefer to shield my kids while I still can.

Rating:
Summary: A PAGE-TURNER THAT SCORES
Review: Ed Bloor's novel "Tangerine", the story of an
11-year-old legally blind soccer goalie with a
sinister charmer for an older brother, is a
page-turner that scores at once as a mystery
thriller, a morality tale and a tribute to a
child's awesome courage in battling psychic
and physical obstacles that would daunt most
heroes of fact and fantasy. Alfred Hitchcock
would have made this into a smash-hit. Maybe
someone else will.
Hans Knight,writer and critic.