Module 7 - Tangerine

Cover art retrieved from its record in worldcat

 Summary

Twelve year old Paul moves from Houston Texas to Tangerine Florida with his family.  Tangerine isn’t the most ideal place to live with sink holes, termites, thunderstorms, fires but Paul loves it.  He is finally no longer the weird kid due to his bottle cap glasses and finds a place for himself on the Tangerine soccer team.  His new confidence gives him the courage finally to stand up to his brother Eric while unraveling the memory of how he became blind.

My Impressions

Bloor includes themes and topics that almost anyone will enjoy.  Tangerine is a good book for children of all ages, including young adults. 

Reviews/Awards

American Library Association Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 1998

Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination for Best Young Adult Novel, 1998

American Booksellers Association Pick of the List, 1997

New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, 1997

“The slightly absurd edge to the comedy and the genuine humor of the banter in no way undercuts the force of the team's devotion and the bitter results of Erik's violence.  Bloor is a promising new voice, and this is a richly imagined read about an underdog coming into his own.”  —Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, March 1997 (Vol. 50, No, 7))

Suggested Activities

There are so many different topics discussed in this book, including topics such as blindness, disabilities, moving, sinkholes, muck files, growing citrus, soccer, football, scholarships, lightning strikes, and mosquitos.  This book would be a great springboard for introducing information about any of these topics.  Within a school library, students could be taken to the library to research information about these topics for either a scavenger hunt, discussion, or a research paper.