Goalkeeper
by Edward Bloor
Middle School    Clarion/HarperCollins    192 pp.
10/25    9780063428324    $19.99
e-book ed.  9780063428348    $10.99

Twenty-eight years after Tangerine (rev. 7/97) was published, Bloor returns with a sequel to his classic debut that picks up after the first book ends. Having been expelled from public school, Paul Fisher is finishing up seventh grade at St. Anthony’s Prep, but he cannot wait to return to Tangerine Middle School for eighth grade to rejoin their championship soccer team as goalie. Once again, his sociopathic older brother, Erik, has escaped the consequences of his actions—his involvement in a series of robberies and in a boy’s death—and has been sentenced to house arrest rather than incarceration. As the summer wears on, Paul stays away from Erik, befriends a Jewish boy facing antisemitism, practices with the War Eagles, and avoids the new family who has moved into the community to open a sandwich franchise. The parents are soliciting investors, while the daughter aggressively pushes coupon sales, and Paul is convinced that the oldest boy robbed the local 7-Eleven. As a tropical storm passes through Tangerine, everything comes to a head, and Paul is named as the sole witness to an alleged crime. He’ll need to weigh competing claims of truth, loyalty, justice, and mercy to find a path through the ethical dilemma. If Bloor’s villains seem a bit over the top, they fit perfectly in Tangerine County with its sinkholes, underground fires, and frequent lightning strikes. A welcome reunion with a memorable character.

From the November/December 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.