Generally, I'm not too keen on stories about white boys from rich families who wander onto the wrong side of the tracks and learn to kick it with their poor minority counterparts. However, I really liked this book. The seventh grade narrator, Paul, is supposedly legally blind, but he can see, both literally and figuratively, more than most people. He has this evil older brother who's a football star (I kept thinking this plot line was going to get super-natural, but it didn't). There's also a lot of good stuff in this book about the nature of cookie cutter housing developments or, rather, the lack of nature in cookie cutter housing developments. If lightning scares you and you're into the smell of citrus, I'd tell you to go for this book. ( )

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. ( )