Tangerine (Novel)
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50 free Tangerine (Novel) trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Edward Bloor's Tangerine is a young adult novel that many students meet in middle school English class. On the surface it is the story of a new kid with thick glasses who loves soccer. Underneath it is a mystery about a household that will not look at the truth, set in a corner of Florida where new suburbs are replacing the old citrus groves and the weather and the land keep springing surprises. This quiz follows the book from the opening pages to the last drive to school. It covers Paul Fisher and his brother Erik, the friends and rivals at both middle schools, the Cruz groves, the strange troubles that hit Lake Windsor Downs, and the secret behind Paul's eyesight. A few questions look at Edward Bloor himself and how the book was received. It is written for students checking their reading and annotations, for teachers who want a quick review, and for anyone who read the book years ago and wants to see what stuck. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In Tangerine, what really damaged Paul Fisher's eyesight years before his family moved to Florida?
White spray paint
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.
Q 02In Tangerine, what disaster destroys a field of portable classrooms at Lake Windsor Middle School?
A sinkhole
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.
Q 03In Tangerine, what weapon does Erik Fisher's friend use to strike Luis Cruz from behind?
A blackjack
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.
Q 04In Tangerine, what does Paul Fisher's family claim he stared at for too long, ruining his eyesight?
A solar eclipse
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.
Q 05In Tangerine, what does Luis Cruz call the new variety of fruit he is developing?
Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn is the tangerine Luis has bred himself, and he proudly tours Paul and his classmates through the groves to show it off.
Q 06In Tangerine, which Texas city do Paul Fisher and his family leave behind when they move to Florida?
Houston
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.
Q 07In Tangerine, which soccer position does Paul Fisher try out for at Lake Windsor Middle School?
Goalkeeper
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.
Q 08In Tangerine, what punishment does Paul Fisher receive for jumping on a football coach's back?
County-wide expulsion
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.
Q 09In Tangerine, what kind of underground blaze keeps filling the Fishers' new neighborhood with smoke?
A muck fire
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.
Q 10In Tangerine, what does football star Antoine Thomas reveal that erases Lake Windsor High's season?
His real home address
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.
Q 11In Tangerine, which football position makes Erik Fisher the focus of his father's scholarship hopes?
Placekicker
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.
Q 12What is the nickname of the unbeaten soccer team Paul Fisher joins at Tangerine Middle School?
War Eagles
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.
Q 13In Tangerine, which Lake Windsor athlete becomes Erik Fisher's driver and does his dirty work?
Arthur Bauer
Q 21In Tangerine, what do Lake Windsor Downs homeowners breed by flooding a burning field with water?
Mosquitoes
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.
Q 22In Tangerine, which birds does Paul Fisher identify as the real thieves of the neighborhood koi?
Ospreys
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.
Q 23In Tangerine, which name does Erik Fisher shout at his sidekick by mistake, unlocking Paul's memory?
Castor
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.
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.
Q 14What kind of dated writing does Paul Fisher use to narrate Tangerine after moving to Florida?
Journal entries
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.
Q 15In Tangerine, which pests force Lake Windsor Downs families to cover their houses with tents?
Termites
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.
Q 16In Tangerine, what is given as the cause of Luis Cruz's death, days after he is struck on the head?
An aneurysm
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.
Q 17In Tangerine, what profession brings Paul Fisher's father to a new job with Tangerine County?
Civil engineer
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.
Q 18Which school year is Paul Fisher starting when his family arrives in Tangerine County?
Seventh grade
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.
Q 19In Tangerine, what does Paul Fisher's mother fill out that gets him cut from a soccer team?
An IEP form
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.
Q 20In Tangerine, in which track event was coach Betty Bright a champion before her Olympic hopes ended?
Hurdles
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.
Q 24In Tangerine, which Catholic school does Paul Fisher enter at the very end of the novel?
Saint Anthony's
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.
Q 25In Tangerine, at which Lake Windsor High event do Tino Cruz and a teammate attack Erik Fisher?
Senior Awards Night
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.
Q 26In Tangerine, where does Paul Fisher's mother discover the valuables stolen from her neighbors?
The family storage unit
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.
Q 27In Tangerine, what kind of monster does Paul Fisher imagine following his family from Texas?
A zombie
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.
Q 28In the opening memory of Tangerine, what does a masked figure in a car wave at young Paul Fisher?
A baseball bat
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.
Q 29In Tangerine, what is Mike Costello touching at football practice when a lightning strike kills him?
A goalpost
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.
Q 30In Tangerine, where is Paul Fisher hiding when he sees Luis Cruz struck down at Lake Windsor High?
Under the bleachers
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.