I’m married to a civil engineer and it’s simply not a high-paid profession unless you're willing to go to hazardous areas (Bosnia, Iraq, etc.) or work ridiculous hours at a consulting company - neither of which Paul's father did.Īnother problem has to do with Erik. While there’s corruption in the county where the story is set, I still find it hard to believe that a civil engineer working for a county would be hired at a high enough salary to live like that, especially with a non-working wife. Paul’s father is a county engineer who is so highly paid that his family lives in a huge house, virtually a mansion. However, it does have some fairly substantial inaccuracies, according to a friend and my own understanding of civil engineering as a profession. I really enjoyed this book, to the point that I picked it up one day and finished it the next, unwilling to put it down for long.

As the Fishers deal with the oddities of life in Tangerine, the truth about Erik is slowly revealed while Paul deals with the challenges of school, soccer, home life, and the sharply different backgrounds of his teammates and friends. In Tangerine, underground fires burn continuously, lightning strikes every day at the same time, and the tangerines that gave the city its name are almost completely gone, burned to make room for housing developments.

When the Fishers move to Tangerine, Florida to pursue what Paul refers to as “the Erik Fisher Football Dream”, they have a few surprises in store. Apart from Paul, though, nobody in the Fisher family is willing to face the fact that Erik Fisher has some serious problems. His father is bent on making sure that Erik gets the chance at football that he never had. But, they’re too busy focusing on his older brother’s football career to notice what’s going on in Paul’s life.Įrik Fisher is a natural at kicking a football with great distance and accuracy. If only his parents would notice that he’s an athlete, and a good one. But, Paul is an even-tempered teenager and just wants to play soccer. Because of his thick lenses, he’s often teased. Paul Fisher has terrible eyes and can’t remember exactly how his vision was damaged.

Tangerine book soccer