Tangerine tells the story of a young boy who moved to Florida who dreams to make the soccer team despite his disability of being legally blind. This book is not afraid to confront the truth of reality and harshness of it. It is easily one of the best YA books out there.

Really bland and boring. ( )

Tangerine, Florida seems like a strange and dangerous place to live. Constant lightning strikes in the afternoons, continuous underground muck fires, and resulting sinkholes plague the community. That's not all. Prized koi fish are mysteriously disappearing from the community pond. Swarms of mosquitos are so thick, trucks with choking pesticides spray daily as if on war patrol. Multiple houses need fumigating because of termites. Then the robberies begin...and the vandalism and graffiti.
Paul Fisher and his family have recently moved to this unstable area and all middle-schooler Paul wants to do is make the soccer team. Despite having a disability (he is legally blind), he is an excellent goalie. He just needs a chance. Since all eyes (pun totally intended) are on Paul's older brother, Eric, the high school football star destined for greatness, that chance seems slim. Everyone adores Eric so why does Paul fear his brother so much?
Tangerine stuns the reader with harsh realities usually missing from young adult novels. Publishers Weekly said "it breaks the mold" and I agree one hundred percent. Confessional: some scenes were so harsh I found myself catching my breath. ( )

children/Teen fiction; sports/mystery/suspense. The cover on the edition I read looked like something I could never enjoy (kid with glasses playing soccer, title sprawled across the cover in graffiti-paint lettering) but it was surprisingly good--I was sucked in pretty much by the time I'd finished the first page. I liked Paul's character immediately and the whole "just how evil is Paul's brother?" question kept me turning the pages. ( )

hopefully the last book i'll read for my materials talk...

***

Wow, one of the best YA books I've read in a while. Really well written (what a novel idea!). Not the biggest surprise ending ever, but enough character development to keep it interesting all the way through, and the end is *satisfying*. I particularly appreciated the not-so-veiled critique of housing developments, socio-economics, environmentalism (or lack thereof), education, and athletics. This book has a lot going on and I tend to agree with most of the criticisms, so thumbs up. ( )