50 Fun Facts About Tangerine (Novel)

In Tangerine, what really damaged Paul Fisher's eyesight years before his family moved to Florida?

White spray paint was forced into Paul's eyes by a friend of his brother Erik while Erik held him down. Their parents hid the truth for years so Paul would not hate his brother.

In Tangerine, what disaster destroys a field of portable classrooms at Lake Windsor Middle School?

A sinkhole opens beneath the walkways and the portables slide in, yet every student is pulled out safely. The disaster lets Paul transfer to Tangerine Middle and play soccer again.

In Tangerine, what weapon does Erik Fisher's friend use to strike Luis Cruz from behind?

A blackjack is a short, blunt club, and Luis walks away from the blow only to collapse in the family grove days later. Paul watches the whole attack from a hiding place.

In Tangerine, what does Paul Fisher's family claim he stared at for too long, ruining his eyesight?

A solar eclipse is the cover story his brother Erik spread, and it earned Paul a cruel nickname at the bus stop. Paul repeats it for years even though he cannot remember it happening.

In Tangerine, what does Luis Cruz call the new variety of fruit he is developing?

Golden Dawn is the tangerine Luis has bred himself, and he proudly tours Paul and his classmates through the groves to show it off.

In Tangerine, which Texas city do Paul Fisher and his family leave behind when they move to Florida?

Houston is where the Fishers pack up in the opening pages, with Paul and his mother driving to Florida after his father and brother. Paul imagines something sinister following them down the highway.

In Tangerine, which soccer position does Paul Fisher try out for at Lake Windsor Middle School?

Goalkeeper is also the title Edward Bloor gave his long-awaited sequel about Paul. The star of the Lake Windsor team tells Paul he is the best around at the job.

In Tangerine, what punishment does Paul Fisher receive for jumping on a football coach's back?

County-wide expulsion bars Paul from every public school in the area, so he has to start over at a private school. The friends he rescued are only suspended for three weeks.

In Tangerine, what kind of underground blaze keeps filling the Fishers' new neighborhood with smoke?

A muck fire smolders under the field behind the development, and a firefighter tells the family there is no way to put it out. Lightning strikes keep stirring it up.

In Tangerine, what does football star Antoine Thomas reveal that erases Lake Windsor High's season?

His real home address is in Tangerine, outside the Lake Windsor district, so every victory he played in is thrown out. Antoine tells Paul it is time to start telling the truth.

In Tangerine, which football position makes Erik Fisher the focus of his father's scholarship hopes?

Placekicker Erik has a place on the Lake Windsor High team before tryouts even begin, yet his father never comes to watch Paul play. Paul thinks the quarterback is the team's true star.

What is the nickname of the unbeaten soccer team Paul Fisher joins at Tangerine Middle School?

War Eagles games are rough, and the squad's two best players are girls, one of them the league's top scorer. Their coach doubles as the team's bus driver.

In Tangerine, which Lake Windsor athlete becomes Erik Fisher's driver and does his dirty work?

Arthur Bauer chauffeurs Erik in his mud-splattered Land Cruiser because Erik, oddly, does not drive. When the police finally come, he is the one taken into custody.

What kind of dated writing does Paul Fisher use to narrate Tangerine after moving to Florida?

Journal entries, each headed with a date, carry the story from August to early December. Paul also writes for hours when police ask him for a statement about his brother.

In Tangerine, which pests force Lake Windsor Downs families to cover their houses with tents?

Termites are feeding, a local man explains, on old citrus wood buried under the development. While the tented homes stand empty, someone starts robbing them.

In Tangerine, what is given as the cause of Luis Cruz's death, days after he is struck on the head?

An aneurysm is the cause people are told, after his father finds Luis collapsed in the grove. Because few know about the earlier blow, Paul's eyewitness account matters.

In Tangerine, what profession brings Paul Fisher's father to a new job with Tangerine County?

Civil engineer is the father's trade, and he is promoted to run the county department after his boss is caught approving developments without inspecting them. One was the Fishers' own neighborhood.

Which school year is Paul Fisher starting when his family arrives in Tangerine County?

Seventh grade is Paul's year, which is why the emergency relocation plan lets him transfer to Tangerine Middle. His brother Erik is in his last year of high school.

In Tangerine, what does Paul Fisher's mother fill out that gets him cut from a soccer team?

An IEP form, the plan for students with special needs, labels Paul as visually impaired, and the coach says he cannot insure such a player. Paul blames his mother for calling him legally blind.

In Tangerine, in which track event was coach Betty Bright a champion before her Olympic hopes ended?

Hurdles made Betty Bright a star, until a rival caught her in the face during a qualifying heat. A neighbor of the Fishers still remembers her as famous.

In Tangerine, what do Lake Windsor Downs homeowners breed by flooding a burning field with water?

Mosquitoes swarm out of the swamp the homeowners created, and some carry encephalitis. The association answers by sending a truck to fog the streets with pesticide.

In Tangerine, which birds does Paul Fisher identify as the real thieves of the neighborhood koi?

Ospreys nesting on nearby poles have been carrying off the koi, and Paul has watched one fly away with a fish. The adults had been sure a human thief was to blame.

In Tangerine, which name does Erik Fisher shout at his sidekick by mistake, unlocking Paul's memory?

Castor was the boy who did Erik's bidding years earlier, when the brothers were small. Hearing the name brings back everything Paul had blocked out about his eyes.

In Tangerine, which Catholic school does Paul Fisher enter at the very end of the novel?

Saint Anthony's is his third school of the year, and his father drives him there past the orange groves. Paul still plans to rejoin his old soccer team next season.

In Tangerine, at which Lake Windsor High event do Tino Cruz and a teammate attack Erik Fisher?

Senior Awards Night also includes a memorial for Mike Costello, and Tino strikes as Erik steps up to be honored. He tells Erik the blows are for his brother Luis.

In Tangerine, where does Paul Fisher's mother discover the valuables stolen from her neighbors?

The family storage unit was meant for the Fishers' spare belongings, but Erik had asked for a key of his own. His mother then gathers the neighbors and tells them herself.

In Tangerine, what kind of monster does Paul Fisher imagine following his family from Texas?

A zombie is how Paul pictures his dread, lumbering down the highway from the old house the family has just locked up. One reviewer complained that the creature never actually appears.

In the opening memory of Tangerine, what does a masked figure in a car wave at young Paul Fisher?

A baseball bat is what the figure in the ski mask waves, and it smashes a mailbox as Paul swerves away. Paul insists the attacker was his brother, but his parents do not believe him.

In Tangerine, what is Mike Costello touching at football practice when a lightning strike kills him?

A goalpost takes the bolt while Mike is leaning on it, and he is thrown through the air. Erik and his friend are soon joking about how the dead boy looked.

In Tangerine, where is Paul Fisher hiding when he sees Luis Cruz struck down at Lake Windsor High?

Under the bleachers is where Paul goes to avoid his brother while his mother meets a school counselor about Erik's slipping marks. Within days he tells Luis himself what he saw.

In Tangerine, what brings Tino and Theresa Cruz to Paul Fisher's house on the day Erik hits Tino?

A science project on Luis's new tangerine needs Paul's computer, since the Cruz family owns only a typewriter. Tino refuses to back down when Erik sneers at the visitors.

In Tangerine, what do the Cruz family coat their young citrus with to protect it from a hard freeze?

A shell of ice, made by pumping water over the branches, holds them at freezing point while the air drops lower. It must stay slushy, or the wood cracks.

In Tangerine, which friend follows Paul Fisher to Tangerine Middle School but soon transfers back?

Joey lasts less than two weeks at Tangerine Middle, bristling at his teammates' teasing and then insulting the Cruz family. Paul ends the friendship rather than side with him.

In Tangerine, what does Mike Costello's little brother try to pull off him after lightning strikes?

His shoes come first to the boy's mind because, he later explains, taking them off had always made his brother feel better. Erik and his friend mock the scene.

In Tangerine, which holiday does Paul Fisher sleep through after a night saving the Cruz groves?

Thanksgiving passes without anyone waking Paul, who sleeps for eighteen hours. He also sleeps through his brother's last football game of the season.

In Tangerine, which college's football people does a neighbor invite over to meet Erik Fisher?

University of Florida football people find Erik unusually polite that evening, while his driver waits outside in the car. His father tracks every college prospect in a computer file of Erik's scholarship offers.

In Tangerine, which type of building on the Cruz farm shelters baby citrus during the freeze?

A Quonset hut, a prefabricated half-cylinder of metal, is also where Luis first meets Paul's class group. Paul has never seen a building like it.

In Tangerine, at what event does Paul Fisher first see the soccer boys from Tangerine Middle?

A carnival in run-down downtown Tangerine gives Paul his first look at the real town. The boys he notices there are later accused of trashing its freak show.

In Tangerine, which drink does Paul Fisher try for the first time while fighting the freeze?

Coffee is handed to him by Theresa, but his fingers are too cold to close around the cup. Luis then orders the exhausted boy to rest.

In Tangerine, which committee of the homeowners' association is Paul Fisher's mother appointed to?

Architectural rulings decide what residents may change about their houses, and she takes the job very seriously. A neighbor's extra lightning rods are among the things that bother her.

In Tangerine, which city hosted the Olympics that coach Betty Bright never got to compete in?

Moscow hosted the Games that the American team skipped, so the boycott ended her hopes after an earlier race went wrong. Paul hears her story from a newspaperman neighbor.

In Tangerine, what do the robbed neighbors sign so that Erik Fisher avoids criminal charges?

A restitution agreement, suggested by the sheriff, would repay every victim and keep the two thieves out of court. The neighbors sign just before police arrive about something far worse.

In Tangerine, which Tangerine Middle soccer star turns out to be Antoine Thomas's sister?

Shandra runs off when a reporter turns up at practice, and her coach later uses the family tie to silence a rival coach's complaint about Paul.

In Tangerine, which soccer captain at Tangerine Middle first hassles Paul Fisher, then accepts him?

Victor Guzman accepts Paul on the bus home from a bruising away game, telling him the team sticks together. He later joins Tino's revenge attack at Lake Windsor High.

In Tangerine, which neighbor of the Fishers owns a house that lightning has struck again and again?

Mr. Donnelly cannot insure the place, so he fits it with lightning rods. He is also the Tangerine Times man who prints the story that sinks the football season.

In Tangerine, what change to football practice does Paul's mother demand after Mike Costello dies?

Switching it to mornings would dodge the storms that roll in every afternoon, an idea the coach resists. Her husband is embarrassed that she is challenging the football program.

In Tangerine, how does the title match between Tangerine Middle and Lake Windsor end?

A missed penalty kick by Lake Windsor's star leaves the score level, which is all Tangerine Middle needs to be champions. The whole town comes out to cheer the team bus home.

Tangerine earned Edward Bloor a Best Young Adult Novel nomination for which mystery-writing prize?

Edgar recognition, in a prize named for Edgar Allan Poe, marked the book as a mystery as well as a soccer story. The American Library Association also listed it among its top ten books for young adults.

In Tangerine, what does Paul Fisher wear in place of his thick glasses whenever he plays soccer?

Sports goggles made of tough, astronaut-style plastic let Paul throw himself around without fear of breaking them. A rival once pulls them off and rubs mud in his eyes.

In Tangerine, what is planted at Lake Windsor High School as a memorial to Mike Costello?

A single tree honors Mike, and on the last page Paul compares it with the whole grove of new tangerines growing in memory of Luis.