  | Goalkeeper Author: Bloor, Edward | |
| Price: $23.98 | ||
Summary:
Paul Fisher is eager to leave his rich-kid private school and get back to Tangerine Middle School, where he found confidence and friendship as the goalkeeper of the War Eagles, the toughest soccer team in the county. First, though, he must survive the summer at home, enduring storms, lightning strikes, and underground fires that never go out--and navigating the presence of his sociopathic older brother who is confined upstairs under house arrest. Follow-up to Tangerine.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (08/01/25)
School Library Journal (+) (10/17/25)
Booklist (10/01/25)
The Hornbook (00/11/25)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 10/17/2025 Gr 3–7—Almost 30 years after it was first published, Bloor's middle-grade novel Tangerine is still a favorite of teachers and students alike—and now it has a sequel. In late-1990s central Florida, Paul Fisher is ending his tumultuous seventh-grade year at a third school, St. Anthony's Prep. Only the summer stands in the way of Paul heading back to Tangerine Middle to rejoin his friends and championship soccer team for eighth grade. But Paul's luck hasn't changed, and the summer might not be just friends, video games, and soccer scrimmages—especially when it begins with Paul witnessing the robbery of a convenience store. What's more, Paul's brother Erik is on house arrest for various felonies, which means home is tense and eerie. Then a strange new family, the McCarthys, move into the neighborhood. Once again, Paul sees more than most people around him—only this time, Paul is using his voice to call out and take action against injustice from the start. Bloor's long-awaited sequel ties up some loose ends from its predecessor but introduces new conflicts in such a way that makes this book a suitable stand-alone too. Once again, Paul must be strategic and brave while keeping his wits about him in order to pull together the resources he needs to right wrongs. The book's '90s setting doesn't feel dated because, unfortunately, the same knots that Paul is unraveling are still issues in today's world. Fans of Bloor's novels will be lining up read this installment. VERDICT Fans of books with politically active protagonists, such as A.S. King's Attack of the Black Rectangles and any of Jewel Parker Rhodes's novels, will love the new and emboldened Paul Fisher.—Jennie Miskec - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 10/01/2025 Bloor’s Goalkeeper picks up where his 1997 book, Tangerine, leaves off. In this sequel, Paul Fisher is finishing the school year at a Catholic school, eager to attend his previous school again in the fall and rejoin their champion soccer team. Over the summer, he makes new friends and even dates a bit. Everything appears to be going well until a new family moves into town with big plans to make everyone a lot of money as sub sandwich franchise owners. Of course, this is a con, but Paul’s dad buys into it. When the venture goes south, Paul finds himself in a dilemma, briefly landing himself in jail. The one-sentence resolution to his prison sentence doesn’t seem like enough, but the overall message of the narrative proves heartwarming and worthwhile. The way Paul handles an eye injury and the need for glasses is particularly touching. Told in quick passages with dates for headings, the book is otherwise chapterless and a breeze to move through. Hand to fans of Kwame Alexander’s Booked (2016) and Shifa Saltagi Safadi’s Kareem Between (2024). - Copyright 2025 Booklist.
