Tangerine

Author
Edward Bloor
By
Genroy Hylton
Main Idea
• People who are very violent won't change
without help
•
Authors Purpose
• Entertain
Point of view
• The book is told from 1st person.
Authors Point of
View
• The author might have been through a
similar situation thus feeling emotionally
attached
Conflict
• Paul fears his brother's physical
retaliations, is angry at his father's
apparent favoritism toward his brother,
and resents his mother's apparent inability
to see Erik for what he really is. Erik,
therefore, appears to be the root of Paul's
problems.
Summary
• Paul is a teenager who lives at home with his distracted
dad and his mean brother and his mom. He has just
moved to this home in Tangerine and has started the
school year. What is special about Paul is that he is
legally blind. He can see with his glasses on, but
without them he cannot. His brother told him that he
stared into a solar eclipse when he was a kid an that is
what messed up his eyesight. He tries out for soccer
at his school, and makes the team, only to be told he
cannot play because he is legally blind. To make
matters worse, his dad doesn't seem to care, all he cares
about is Paul's brother Eric. Eric is a football star who
can kick a field goal very accurately.
Summary cont.
• Because of a natural disaster, Paul has to go to a new
school, the Tangerine County school that is filled with
tough people. He doesn't think he will fit in, but when
he tries out for the soccer team, he finds that the people
who he plays with are some of the toughest people in
the school, and they accept him into their group. All
goes well until his friends come over to his house and
his brother comes home. His brother insults his friends
brother and his friend attacks him. His brother beats
up his friend. This leads to his friends brother coming
over to tell Eric to leave him alone. Eric has him hit
with a Blackjack. Paul knows he should tell someone,
but he is scared of Eric and of what anyone he told
would think of him for keeping it a secret for so
long. Paul doesn't know what to do.
Setting

• Paul's subdivision was built on a

foundation of termite-infested ground,
next to a field that constantly burns muck
fires, near a school that is built on land
that becomes a sinkhole.