Edward Bloor, the award-winning author of many young adult novels, popped into a very exciting class gathering this week! The Powell/Brodo seventh grade language arts class just read his novel Tangerine, and were thrilled to have the chance to speak with Mr. Bloor about the book.
Mrs. Powell explains, “The book is in some ways about soccer, but it's really about social and environmental issues. The kids are very into the book and especially engaged in the social and environmental topics it develops. It generates fantastic discussions.”
Our students brought thoughtful questions to Mr. Bloor, who was able to provide insights on his characters and their motivations. In his explanations, he also pulled back the curtain on some novelists’ tools, such as needing to have a “bad guy,” the use of unreliable narrators, and what narrative function provided by a character’s backstory.
Mr. Bloor also shared some thrilling insider news: Tangerine is in the process of being developed into a 6-part television series! Keep an eye out for it in the future. He’s also working on a new book, which will be a chapter book for 10-12-year-olds based on the bedtime stories he read to his own kids. It’ll be a time-traveling story set in 1492, where the characters accidentally kill Christopher Columbus, and, in Mr. Bloor’s words, “change everything.”
Mrs. Brodo noted that Mr. Bloor was “incredibly gracious” with his time and kindness towards our students. We were honored to host him!