A legally blind boy struggles for recognition
as he copes with bullies

Paul Fisher is trying to make a new life in Tangerine County, Florida, since his family has just moved there from Texas. Paul had been legally blind since an accident when he was only five. Paul was now in seventh grade and his older brother, Erik, would be a senior in high school. When he was still a little child, Erik had been trained by his dad to be a place kicker in football. Erik could consistently kick field goals from fifty yards out. Mr. Fisher, who had wanted to be a football star when he went to college, expected that major college football coaches around the country would be standing in line to recruit Erik to be their place kicker. Naturally, since Paul was legally blind, his father didn't expect him to be much of an athlete.

It didn't take long, once the season started, for people in Tangerine County to realize what Erik Fisher could do to help their high school win at football. He was immediately popular with the girls and the other jocks. Unfortunately, for Paul, his popular older brother was a bully. Erik pushed Paul around at every opportunity, whenever the boys' parents weren't watching. With his jock buddies, Erik pushed around other kids as well.

Paul found out early in their new Florida home that the area was a strange place to live. There were underground fires burning under the subdivision where the Fishers lived. Because of the almost daily rain storms, lightning was a real danger. Early in the school term, a huge sink hole swallowed up the portable classrooms where Paul had most of his middle school classes. Paul had been accepted to play on the school soccer team. Because of the loss of classrooms, he was moved to another middle school in a different part of town. The kids were mean and tough at the new school, and Paul was given a hard time when he tried to make their soccer team.

Poor Paul. Not only was he bullied by his brother and his brother's friends, but he was bullied by some of his teammates at his new school as well. However, Paul had been a pretty good soccer player in Texas, and he wasn't going to give up just because of bullies. People needed to realize that with his special glasses on, he could see plenty well enough to play soccer. He shouldn't be automatically judged to be a poor player just because he needed thick lenses in his glasses.

In spite of the unusual conditions in Tangerine County and in spite of his visual handicap, Paul is determined to make a name for himself as an athlete. He also is determined to be a better person than he knows his popular brother to be. You need to read the book "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor to find out how he does it. You won't be disappointed.

After several foster homes,
a girl adjusts to living in a large group home

Madeline (Maddie) Myers was eleven when she finally landed in the East Tennessee Children's Home. She had lived with her grandmother in a trailer for several years after her mother had abandoned her as a baby. Unfortunately, Granny Lane's health went bad and Maddie was moved from relative to relative and, finally, from one foster home to another. Now, at eleven years of age, there didn't seem to be any more foster placements for Maddie.

The kids weren't treated badly at the Home. They didn't think the food was very good, but they were treated kindly. There were always new kids coming in as some of the girls in the Home moved out to rejoin their family or were taken in by a relative. All of the girls dreamed of being taken to live in a real house with somebody they could love and who would love them.

Until she could land in a real home, the next best thing Maddie hoped for was to have a best friend. She thought maybe she had found one when a new girl joined the group. The new girl called herself "Murphy." Murphy was a talker. She claimed her parents were famous globe-trotting researchers and that when they got back from their current expedition, they would be picking Murphy back up. She had a magic stone that, if she said the right words, it enabled her to fly. Now Maddie knew Murphey's stories could not be true, but Maddie just liked being around her. Being around Murphy made Maddie feel like she was "at home."

Maddie had a hobby. She liked to cut out pictures of houses and paste them in a notebook. She dreamed about houses and hoped that one day she would have one of her own. At first, Maddie thought Murphy and the other kids would make fun of the houses. However, some of the kids joined in and started making house books of their own.

One of the boys from the school the girls attended volunteered to let them try to build a fort at the back of his family's property. After a period of planning and getting donations of lumber and nails, the kids all set out to build a structure. It turned out to have a roof and windows and all the kids felt a sense of accomplishment. It was a good place to keep their house books and talk about their dream homes.

There are ups and downs in the girls' relationships with one another. Maddie gets her feelings hurt by Murphy and, as a result, no longer sees her as a best friend. Murphy leaves the home unexpectedly and Maddie is unable to tell her goodbye. The little book continues with other events that will change Maddie's life. She knows, however, that she will always remember Murphy.

On a kayaking trip, a boy is washed ashore
on a desolate island in Alaska

Fourteen-year-old Andy Galloway has gone whale-watching with a group of other teen-agers. He realizes that he isn't far from where his archeologist father died a few years before while looking for evidence of the first primitive people to reach North America. Andy knows that he shouldn't do it, but early in the morning he leaves camp and takes off on his own. He feels he must see the spot where his father's body had been found. He thought he had plenty of time to make it back before the rest of the group would wake up. His plan worked up to a point. He did find the spot and even located a carving that had belonged to his dad. What he hadn't counted on was a big change in the weather.

As Andy hurried to make his way back to the camp, he almost panicked when he realized that a big storm was coming up. He could make no progress against the current. In the violent waves, his kayak overturned and he was washed ashore on a large island. He was freezing cold, had no way to start a fire, and was without food. The first living thing he saw was a huge bear with a hump behind its shoulders. Why had he ever thought he could leave the safety of camp and take off on his own? And he hadn't told anybody where he was going.

As he was struggling to survive, Andy realized that he had washed ashore on Admiralty Island. He knew the island was now uninhabited, but was known as a hunting ground for Alaskan Brown Bears. Luckily, Andy ran across a long-abandoned fish cannery where he found some shelter. While there, he saw a heavily-bearded, wild-looking man running off with old books and magazines that had been left in the cannery. Clearly, the man wanted no contact with Andy. But, the man was probably not some primitive native if he was taking books and magazines. Who could he be? Was he dangerous?

As Andy's adventure continues, he runs across a large Newfoundland dog. The dog seemed friendly. The bad news, however, was that the large dog was socializing with a pack of wolves. Now, that's all Andy needs at this point. Besides cold, hunger, bears, and an unfriendly wild man, now he has hungry wolves to worry about! He hears occasional planes flying overhead, but they have no idea he is down below. His friends back at the camp and his mother back home in Colorado must all be frantic by now. How could he have been so stupid?

Well, you've figured out by now that the plot in the little book gets pretty complicated. If you get around to reading "Wild Man Island," you will be surprised at how things turn out for Andy and how he makes it home. You will find out who the wild man is and what he is doing on the island. You also will find out a little bit about archeologists and their speculation about how men first arrived in North America.