June 27 - July 3, 2011
Book 1: Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Bibliography: Bloor, E. (2006). Tangerine. New York: Harcourt Children's Books.
Summary:
Paul moved with his parents and brother to Florida for his dad's new job. His brother Erik was a football star in high school and he was a bully. Paul was legally blind since early in his childhood and was a good soccer player. After a sink hole at his school destroyed several buildings on campus, Paul decides to attend another school that is filled with students who work in orchards. It is a tough school, with tough kids, but Paul fits in because of soccer. During a freeze, Paul helps his friends try to save as many trees in their orchard as they can and in doing so he sees a different way of life, experiences loyalty in their families and with his new friends. Paul is really attracted to this difference in lifestyle. HIs brother Erik causes problems for Paul's new friends but Paul stands up for them, standing up for the first time against his brother. Paul's parents finally come to see Erik for what he truly is like as a bully, and they see Paul becoming more assertive, self confident and loyal.
My Impression:
I really enjoyed this book. The dynamic of Paul's family are similar to many families. Erik is the all-star who everyone sees has a future in football. Paul, with his eye issues takes a backseat to all of Erik's events and practices. The parents turn their head not wanting to see the person that Erik has become while Paul's soccer events are not once attended by his family. The characters are well developed and realistic while the events of the story are also somewhat startling but also realistic and possible. This book demonstrated what true loyalty to friendship looks like and what happens when you have to deal with the consequences of your actions.
Reviews:
1. Book Links
Paul and his dysfunctional; family have just moved to Tangerine, Florida. Despite being legally blind since an ominous accident when he was little, Paul tries out for the school soccer team. But it's his relationship with his football star brother that puts Paul and his new friends in danger. -Wojahn, Rebecca May 2006.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2. Horn Book
Paul Fisher is legally blind and has lived most of his life in the shadow of his football star brother, Erik. But Paul can see; with his prescription goggles he is an excellent soccer player. He can also see things that his parents somehow can't, like what kind of person Erik really is. When the family moves to Tangerine County, Florida, things start to change. Paul's father is still obsessed with the Erik Fisher Football Dream, and his mother with her various committees. But behind the sterile perfection of their housing development lurks a series of bizarre disasters: an underground muck fire burns incessantly with putrid smoke; termites run rampant under the houses; and lightning strikes savagely every afternoon, once killing a boy at football practice. In this eerie atmosphere, random memories start cropping up for Paul, and he senses that knowledge of the mysterious accident that damaged his eyes at age five — an incident his family never discusses but one he knows involves Erik — is almost in his grasp. When Paul's school is sucked into a giant sinkhole during a rainstorm, he transfers to Tangerine Middle School, where the tough kids are in charge. There Paul's decency, sense of humor, and soccer skills win him an unlikely new crew of friends. The nightmarish disasters and Paul's pervasive fear of Erik are balanced in the novel by his genuine love of soccer playing and his joy in the scent and beauty of the Tangerine fields, a joy he shares with tangerine grower Luis. So much happens so quickly that you are pulled right along in the story, and the engaging sports scenes highlight the personalities of the players as well as the action on the field. Events move even faster after Paul witnesses Erik and his henchman using a blackjack in a vicious assault on Luis, who dies a week later from the blow. All truths finally come pouring out as Paul remembers Erik's horrifying assault on his eyes, and he confronts his parents with all they've been denying. Paul Fisher is an immensely likable character — a bright, funny, straight-talking, stand-up kid — and it's a real pleasure to watch him grow in Tangerine. By Lauren Adams Jul/Aug 97
Suggestion for Use:
This would be an excellent source to be used with themes such as self-confidence, bullying, loyalty and just about coming to your own in a dysfunctional family.
Citations:
Adams, L. (1997). [Review of the book Tangerine by E. Bloor]. Horn Book Magazine, 73(4), 449-450. Retrieved from
http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2104/ehost/detail?vid=163&hid=19&sid=7a87cd8b-4f2b-41fe-a3a0-0bc09d25192e%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZ
T1zaXRl#db=lih&AN=9709035084
Wojahn, R. (2006). Shooting, Scoring, Sparring, and More: Recommended Sports Novels. [Review of the book Tangerine by E. Bloor]. Book Links, 15(5), 46-50. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2104/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7a87cd8b-4f2b-41fe-a3a0-0bc09d25192e%40sessionmgr110&vid=160&hid=19
Book 2: Son of the mob by Gordon Korman
Bibliography: Korman, G. (2002). Son of the mob. New York: Hyperion Paperbacks.Summary:
Vince Luca is a good 17 year old boy. His best friend is Alex, who is trying to live his love life vicariously through Vince and his girlfriend, who happens to be an FBI agent. Problem: Vince is the son of a mobster. Vince has a heart of gold and helps two men who have crossed his dad, thinking that he can keep his dad from having to hurt them. The men just end up causing Vince more trouble. Vince's brother Tommy, turns the website he created for a school project into a bet booking site. Ray who works for his dad and is one of Vince's closest friends turns out to be an undercover FBI agent. Through all the conflict, Alex and Vince stay friends and Vince and Kendra decide they can stay together even though her dad has their house wire tapped.
My Impression:
This book was fun to read and poor Vince was just in all kinds of trouble every direction he went. The more he tried to help in some way, the more trouble he would create. The character were very believable and the situations were realistic. Once the story gets going, it slows down briefly for a breather here and there. Vince runs into things that surprise him about as often as he tries to do the right thing.
Reviews:
1. Booklist
The Sopranos meets Romeo and Juliet in this briskly comic romance, costarring a crime
kingpin’s son and an FBI agent’s daughter. Tony and Kendra are mad for each other, but that
doesn’t mean that Tony is ready to tell Kendra who his father is—especially after his horrifying discovery that her father is on the listening end of the bugs and wiretaps scattered through his
house. Realizing that it wouldn’t be wise for either dad to find out what’s what, Tony has to do
some fancy footwork to keep the fathers, and Kendra’s suspicions, at bay—a task considerably
complicated by his unwilling involvement with a pair of petty hoodlums. Stubbornly battling to preserve his illusion that the family “business” has nothing to do with him, Tony presents a winning mix of good instincts and innocence that will have readers cheering him on as he weathers a succession of amatory and ethical crises, to emerge at the end of this expertly plotted escapadewith relationships, self-respect, and even conscience more or less intact. —John Peters 11/1/02
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2. Publishers Weekly
The Sopranos (minus the vulgarity and violence) meets Leave It to Beaver (minus the "aw-shucks" tone and dated sensibility) in Korman's (No More Dead Dogs) brassy, comical caper. With its razor-sharp dialogue and bullet-fast pace, this tale could fly on either the small or big screen, yet it makes a page-turner of a novel. Korman shapes a believable and likable crew--despite the less than reputable profession of some. Many of the novel's conflicts revolve around the fact that the affable narrator, 17-year-old Vince Luca, refuses to become involved in the family "vending machine business." But of course, since his father is the Mob boss, and his older brother serves as their father's loser lackey, Vince cannot avoid being tainted (e.g., he lands in jail "because my sixteenth-birthday present [a Porsche] turns out to be hot"). Mom turns a deaf ear to the shady goings-on, cooking up a steady storm in the kitchen and willing "to serve a sit-down dinner for fifteen guys at four in the morning with ten minutes advance notice." Things heat up when Vince begins dating--and eventually falls in love with--the daughter of the FBI agent determined to bring down Vince's father. The boy also gets sucked into the maelstrom when he loans money to one of his father's underlings for whom he feels sorry. Funny and unexpectedly affecting, this will grab-and hold onto-even the most reluctant of readers. Ages 12-up. (Oct. 28, 2002) By Diane Roback, SENIOR EDITOR; Jennifer M. Brown, FORECASTS EDITOR and Jeff Zaleski, FORECASTS EDITOR
Suggestion for Use:
This book could be used as a general realistic fiction demonstration. It could also be used with themes of doing the right thing, standing up for what you believe in and dysfunctional families.
Citations:
Peters, J. (2002). [Review of the book Son of the mob by G. Korman]. Booklist, 99(5), 485. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2104/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5839463e-1cfd-4182-b0e7-71404461a7bd%40sessionmgr114&vid=73&hid=24
No comments:
Post a Comment