For example, Paul can see that Erik and Arthur are destructive and only care about their own personal gain, because the truth does not matter to them.

Paul gradually remembers more and more about his personal truth as he observes or helps uncover other characters’ truths. Fisher have let the truth become unimportant in their lives-to their own detriment. Such lies have eaten away at the family’s interpersonal relationships and perhaps allowed Paul’s parents to rationalize not dealing with Erik’s problems. Paul’s parents have not told the truth to him about what happened to him and allowed Erik’s lie about Paul staring at a solar eclipse to become the accepted truth. He does not remember until the end of the novel that his older brother Erik held him down and convinced his friend Vincent Castor to force spray paint into five-year-old Paul’s eyes. As a result, he must resign.įor Paul, the truth about what happened to make him legally blind is very important. Because of Burns, a sinkhole develops that engulfs the junior high school portable classrooms. Old Charley Burns, for example, takes bribes and does not find out the truth about the poor quality of most of the construction projects in the area.

The truth shall set you free.’’ Paul responds, ‘‘Yes! Yes!’’ Truths and falsehoods are important to nearly every plot in Tangerine, even secondary ones. As star football player Antoine Thomas advises Paul toward the end of the novel, ‘‘Don’t spend your life hiding under the bleachers, little brother. Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.One of the primary themes in Tangerine is the importance of telling the truth and living the truth as well as the consequences of lies. Underdogs of the world, unite! Awards: ABA’s Pick of the Lists, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, Horn Book Fanfare Selection, IRA Young Adults’ Choice, New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Paul is a character well worth cheering for.

Written as a series of Paul’s journal entries, Tangerine is a gut-wrenching coming-of-age novel about truth, memory, culture, courage, social consciousness, classism, the environment.

Paul is visually impaired (without his Coke bottle glasses), but it’s everyone else who seems to be blind to Erik’s dangerous nature. Still, twelve-year-old Paul sees the move as a way to start anew, maybe even make a name for himself in middle school soccer-despite his father’s obsession with his high-school-age brother Erik’s future in football. Tangerine, Florida-once known for its citrus groves-is now an uninhabitable quagmire of muck fires and school-swallowing sinkholes. Edward Bloor’s award-winning novel Tangerine grabs readers by the collar on the first page and never lets go.

Tangerine edward