Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Summary: Turtls is not like the other girls, she doesn’t like Shirley temple or babies. She likes the funny pages and her cat Smokey Turtle’s mom, Sadiebelle is a hard working, single mom. She clease houses and takes good care of her eleven year old daughter, Turtle. Her mom is also always falling in love, but this time her mom thinks that her current boyfriend, Archie, a salesman, is different. When Sadiebelle gets a new job, her employer refuses to house Turtle and her cat Smokey, so Turtle is sent to live with her Aunt Minnie in Key West, Florida. When she arrives her Aunt Minnie is surprised because she had not received her mother’s letter yet. Aunt Minnie eventually takes in Turtle. Now, Turtle has to live with her new cousins, Beans, who is mean and dislikes her, Kermit, who has a heart condition and has to take a lot of naps, and Buddy, the youngest who is always wetting the bed and follows his brothers around. After settling in, Turtle meets the Diaper gang, a group of boys her age that babysit the bad kids in her neighborhood. The Diaper gang includes Bean’s, Kermit, and Bean’s Best Friends, Porkchop and a boy named Ira. She also meets some Sailors names Slow Poke, who took her on a boat ride and who she forms a bond with, Johnny Cakes, who she tired get to let her work on his boat, and Ollie. Soon, she gets to meet her Nana, she thought was dead, but is disappointed to find that she does not like kids. Despite this, she is determine to get Nana Philly to like her so she bring her lunch, and spends time with her. While she is in her Nana’s attic she finds a treasure map to Black Caesar's treasure. She convinces the Diaper gang to help her and so they lie to their parents so they can take the day to search for the treasure. Its takes a while, but they eventually find the treasure, $20,000 worth, which they split between them and Nana Philly. But the end up stranded in a shack and have to wait to be rescued, which takes a while because then a hurricane passes by. However, they are eventually rescued by Slow Poke, Johnny Cakes, and Ollie. Soon her mother comes for her, along with Archie who is now her husband. Later one, when Sadie Belle and Turtle are supposed to meet Archie so they can leave, it is revealed that Archie has taken off to Cuba with Turtle’s share of the money. Sadiebelle is devastated, but Aunt Minnie offers to let her sister and turtle live there with her. Turtle, looks around at her family and people who love her and thinks to herself that this is the real treasure.

Review: This book is one that children 8-12 year olds can relate to, with all the hijinks that all the characters get into. Not only that but he events like moving to a new place and searching for pirate treasure, and the fun nicknames. A lesson with book would look like having the children describing how life was like for these characters in the Great Depression. I would not hesitate to put this book in my classroom library.