Tangerine

The truth will set you free.

Paul Fisher and his family moves to Tangerine, Florida and Paul begins to question much of which he took for granted in his life before including a mysterious eye injury that leaves him wearing thick glasses for the rest of his life. Tangerine is not the place his family expected it to be but his brother Erik's football dream is just as strong as before the move. Paul's game is soccer and after finding himself kicked off the soccer team at his new school, a freak accident lands him in a new school with a new soccer opportunity and new friends to make. In Tangerine, underground fires burn constantly, lightning strikes on a daily basis and buildings are built on sink holes. Edward Bloor takes us on a journey through Paul's seventh grade year in journal fashion filled with accidents, tragedy and a lesson that telling the truth will set you free. 

Teachers: Here are some resources and ideas to help you teach this novel...

Web Resources:  

• Discussion Questions: This link takes you to a list of discussion questions related to Tangerine.
• Tangerine Jeopardy: This link offers a jeopardy style game for students to play after reading Tangerine.
• Discussion Guide: Discussion guide and discussion questions from Scholastic.

Vocabulary:  Here are some vocabulary words that may need to be pretaught: predator, zombie, smolder, lignite, sod, serfs, vandals, eclipse, campaign, eligible, wake, affidavits, condemned,  fumigate, osprey, encephalitis, plagues, reverence, horticulture, aneurysm, restitution

Activities:

Before Reading: In this novel, Paul Fisher and his family moves to a new town. In groups, talk about a time that you moved or a time when there was a big change in your life. Talk about how this made you feel and what you did to help you get used to the move/change.

During Reading/Writing: 

• After reading about either Mike or Luis' death write about a time when you lost a friend, family member, pet, etc. Explain how it made you feel and what you did to help you overcome this loss.
• After reading about the sink hole and the decision students need to make either to attend split session or go to Tangerine Middle, write an essay explaining what you would have decided in the same situation and why.

After Reading: Imagine you are the prosecutor who will decide what will happen to Erik and Arthur for their actions involving Luis' death. What would their charges be? How would they be punished?

 Bloor, E. (1997). Tangerine . San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace.

Happy Reading (& Running) =)