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Tangerine
Reviewer’s Name: Audrey Lewis, age 13
Reviewer’s Location: Edgartown, MA
Title: Tangerine
Author: Edward Bloor
Genre: Drama
Rating: (Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average or Should Not Have Been Published): Excellent
Comments:
Tangerine, a county in Florida which at first glance is perfect, yet at second glance is a nightmare of oddities. In Tangerine, lightning strikes in the same place every day, fires burn underground for years, never to be put out, sinkholes can drown buildings, and strange things happen all the time. Paul Fisher’s older brother is a football star, so much so that the father dreams of sending him to college on a football scholarship and then becoming a footballer in the NFL. The “Eric Fisher Football Dream,” as Paul calls it.
However, Paul sees what his parents choose to overlook. He wears very thick glasses, why, he does not know. He started wearing them one summer, that is all he does know, and that is because of the vacation pictures. His brother told everyone that he stared at a solar eclipse too long, without protection for his eyes. Paul goes along with the story. His parents do not provide any other explanation. There was a solar eclipse that year. However, while Paul does not necessarily have perfect eyesight, he has 20/20 spiritual vision. Paul sees what other people do not. Like the fact that his “perfect” brother is an evil person, who does not care if he has to scratch and claw his way to the top. Paul knows something about Eric, even if he cannot remember what it is . . . until the memories start coming back.
Edward Bloor has written a beautiful drama, about a boy, a past that would be better not to remember, and tangerines. When I first started this book, I thought it was going to be an average book, maybe a little better than usual, since it had been so prominently advertised as the “One Book, One Island” choice in the library. I was wrong. This is a moving story, one that seems to tell itself in a way that is not often found. Did your parents ever tell you about the kid who stared at an eclipse so long, he had to wear glasses? Well, I’m that kid.
April 22, 2005
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
By Ann Brashares
I love this book because it tells the realistic story of four different girls and it even includes love so what could be wrong with that? The movie was also good.
A summary of the book: Four best friends must send their summer apart and so they find an extraordinary pair of pants in a thrift store to connect them. Along the way they find love, discover themselves, learn about life and death, and accept new families.
Crystal, age 16
Teenreads.com
http://www.teenreads.com/
This user- friendly and very inclusive site, features information for
teens about their favorite authors, books, series and characters.
It includes book reviews, author profiles and interviews, excerpts from
popular new releases as well as literary games. Cool site with the latest
titles, awesome contests and the Question of the Month.
Teen Reading
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/recreading/recommendedreading.htm
American Library Association site for teen readers. Provides reading
lists such as:
Best Books for Young Adults, Books for the College Bound, Quick Picks
for Reluctant Readers, Teens Top 10.
Favorite Teenage Angst Books
http://www.grouchy.com/angst/index.html
Cathy Young takes care to make this site “ . . . a comfortable
place for teen readers themselves, as well as to provide down-to-earth
perspectives on YA literature for the adults in their lives.”
Includes reviews selected by unique categories such as: Sex and Love,
Fitting In, Creativity, Mixed-up Families, and Diary-ish. Great
links to other sites
Write on
http://writeon.zest.net/397.html
This website, hosted by author Dallas Woodburn, includes writing contests,
conferences and author interviews. For active and aspiring teen
writers.
Teen Spot
http://www.libraryspot.com/features/teenreadinglists.htm
Library spot has links to hundreds of lists – Top Teen reads,
best films, etc. A great site to explore.
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