Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award Nominee (2001), South Carolina Book Award for Junior Book Award (2000), Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award Nominee (1998), ALA’s Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults (1998)

Ratings Explanation

Language:  Hell is used a handful of times along with a couple of instances of profanity, one use of ass and some name calling.  There are many instances where people of different social, ethnic and physical differences are insulted or put down.  Some boys make fun of a boy who has died and his brother.

Violence:  A high school football player dies when struck by lightning.  There is a funeral and viewing.  A sinkhole opens up at school and the kids are frightened and some get hurt.  Paul is afraid of his older brother, Eric.  There are several fights between soccer teams throughout the book including punching and kicking and someone always ends up bleeding and hurt.  People throw acorns at players of the soccer team.  Students almost fight at school and are suspended.  Eric hits one of Paul’s friends after taunting him.  Eric and his friend attack another man and hit him on the side of his head with a blackjack.  The man later dies.  Eric threatens his brother.  Paul remembers when Eric sprayed spray paint in his eyes, causing his eye problems. There is a fight at school and Paul is expelled from school for attacking a teacher.

Adult Themes:  Paul is visually impaired and kicked off the soccer team because of it.  Gangs and  social classes are touched on.  Parents turn a blind eye to their son’s dangerous behavior which leads to even worse behavior.  Parents lie to their child to try to cover up violence.  Kids steal from homes in their neighborhood and use violence to intimidate other people. Eric and his friend are caught stealing.

Synopsis

When Paul and his family move to Florida, he is hoping for a fresh start and a chance at normal.  He hopes to find a place on the school’s soccer team.  Even though Paul is legally blind, he can see things other people cannot.  He knows that his parents’ obsession with his brother Eric’s football success is covering up a dangerous truth.  He also knows that breaking in with the soccer team is going to require luck and a whole lot of determination.  Paul has become an expert at hiding away, but in this new town where weird is normal, lightning strikes everyday, and schools fall into sinkholes, Paul might just learn how to rely on courage and truth to overcome his fears.

This is a story about real life kind of things.  Paul is a young boy trying to deal with social pressures, physical limitations which unfairly label him, and problems at home.  Many situations were ones we can all relate to on some level or another.  I enjoyed the parts about the Tangerine orchards.  I could almost smell them.  The struggle to keep such orchards productive and growing is so admirable.  I tend to forget that as I sit in my comfy home eating the products of many people’s labor.  I also liked the sense of friendship and loyalty Paul developed with the members of his soccer team.  Paul has a good heart and you can feel that from the very beginning.  Here is a line from the book as spoken by Paul.  “They call me Mars.  That’s okay with me.  I’ve been called worse.”

Reading level for this book is set at 10 years and up, but I would just suggest caution due to the content presented above.