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Parents' Guide to

Tangerine

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

A complex tale about teens, family relationships.

Book Edward Bloor Coming of Age 1997
Tangerine Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 7 parent reviews

page
page Adult
July 1, 2009
age 11+

Highly recommended

This book is phenomenal. It is thought-provoking and inspirational. It serves as a great 'dress rehearsal' for tweens and teens as they will face many of these issues during their lives [athletes and their behavior, friendship, family secrets, bullying, assertiveness]. I am considering using this as a book for 7th graders to read, experience, and discuss in September. [I needed to have patience to get past the first 30 pages or so. After that, I stayed up all night reading it!]
yes2goodbooks
yes2goodbooks Parent of 8, 11 and 13-year-old
March 18, 2022
age 11+

Tangerine is a GREAT book!

A brilliant and meaningful story about a kid growing up and learning to trust himself and have confidence through soccer. It's perfect for 7th grade because it has enough action and drama to keep students engaged. The characters are real; good life lessons/not overdone; characters face disappointment and move forward. ~mild swearing ~characters are held accountable for actions ~symbolism spoiler: ~a teen is struck by lightning, teens fight/ blood, character hit in the head with blunt object
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Paul Fisher can see things his parents can't, like how evil his older brother, Erik the football star, really is. He can see this even though he has been legally blind since an early-childhood accident he can't remember.

Now his family has moved to the bizarre town of Tangerine, where muck fires burn forever, lightning strikes at the same time each day, and half the school disappears into a sinkhole one afternoon. Paul's memories are starting to return--memories that lead to shocking revelations about his family. Meanwhile, he plays on the soccer team with the toughest Latino kids at school, kids who are beginning to accept him as one of their own.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (44 ):

This complex, multilayered novel is impossible to synopsize briefly -- there's just too much going on, and every bit of it is engrossing and powerful. The author has a lot to say on a wide variety of subjects: race relations, child rearing, sports, class conflict, and more, but he does so in a book that is at once exciting, moving, strikingly original, and thought-provoking. Above all, TANGERINE is about the revelations that adolescents experience as they begin to step back and see their families through more detached eyes.

One 14-year-old said that the dizzying number of subplots could have been streamlined, for her taste, and that "sections in the first half of the book were slow." But this tale is richer and more inventive than most young-adult novels, so these seem like minor complaints. Bloor's first novel is a tour-de-force melding of the physical, intellectual, and emotional in a rich, resonant story.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why Paul's parents idolize his football-star older brother but fail to see his shortcomings.

  • Why does Erik behave the way that he does?

  • What was your reaction when
    Paul finally found out what caused him to lose part of his sight?

  • Do
    you see Paul as a hero?

  • How did each of the main characters change over
    the course of the book?

Book Details

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