Turtle in Paradise

by Jennifer L. Holm Narrated by Becca Battoe

Overview

In Jennifer L. Holm's New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor winning middle grade historical fiction novel, life isn't like the movies. But then again, 11-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple

She's smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935 and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle's mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn't like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida to live with relatives she's never met. Florida's like nothing Turtle's ever seen before though. It's hot and strange, full of rag tag boy cousins, family secrets, scams, and even buried pirate treasure! Before she knows what's happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she's spent her life building, and as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways. Filled with adventure, humor and heart,*Turtle in Paradise*is an instant classic both boys and girls with love.

Includes an Author's Note with photographs and further background on the Great Depression, as well as additional resources and websites.

Starred Review,*Kirkus Reviews:
"Sweet, funny and superb."

Starred Review,*Booklist:
"Just the right mixture of knowingness and hope . . . a hilarious blend of family drama seasoned with a dollop of adventure."

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2010:
“Sweet, funny and superb”

Starred Review, Booklist, April 15, 2010:
"Turtle is just the right mixture of knowingness and hope; the plot is a hilarious blend of family dramas seasoned with a dollop of adventure."

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly:
"This humorous adventure effectively portrays Turtle as caught between her mother's Hollywood-inspired dreams and the very real family . . . that offer a different kind of paradise."

Review, School Library Journal, April 2010:
"This richly detailed novel was inspired by Holm’s great-grandmother’s stories. Readers who enjoy melodic, humorous tales of the past won’t want to miss it."

Kirkus Reviews

Eleven-year-old Turtle falls in with the Diaper Gang-her boy cousins Beans, Kermit and Buddy and their friends Ira and Pork Chop-when she is packed off to stay in her mother's hometown of Key West because her housekeeper mother has a new job with a woman who doesn't like kids. It's 1935, and the enterprising boys offer baby care to exhausted mothers in exchange for candy because no one has any money to spare. Glimpses of Southern decay and charm add to the sense of otherness that Turtle finds in the heat, the occasional scorpion, the windfall fruit and the hint of Bahamian and Cuban roots. Her encounters with the cantankerous invalid grandmother she never knew and with Slow Poke, a sponge fisherman whose gray eyes match her own, hint at the importance of this homecoming. Turtle's discovery of the charms of family is as valuable as the pirate treasure the children weather a hurricane to find. Holm's voice for Turtle is winning and authentic-that of a practical, clear-eyed observer-and her nimble way with dialogue creates laugh-out-loud moments. Sweet, funny and superb. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171875022
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	05/11/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

Everyone thinks children are sweet as Necco Wafers, but I've lived long enough to know the truth: kids are rotten. The only difference between grown-ups and kids is that grown-ups go to jail for murder. Kids get away with it.  
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Turtle in Paradise"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Jennifer L. Holm.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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