This book is an enjoyable read that transported me back in time and place to old Key West after the Great Depression where the main character, and 11 year old girl named Turtle, is sent to live with her cousins and aunt while her mother seeks out a job as a housekeeper in the Northeast. Having never met her family before, Turtle experiences them for the first time without her mother, whom is the only person she has ever been with in her life. While her outlook on life is a little more realistic than her mother's, she learns that this small community of family members can be home even without her mother there. I really connected with this character in a few ways. When I was ten, my mother decided we should move from my hometown, and where my immediate family lived, to a small town in Northeast Texas where she spent her childhood summers visiting her grandparents. Much like Turtle, I walked into a small community where everybody knew of me and my family, but I knew nothing of them. The culture shock I felt moving from a large city to a small town was mirrored in Turlte's experiences in Key West. I will definitley recommend this book to my students for many reasons, but I love the way it ended. A bit of a twist made what seemed like a neat and happy ending a little more messy than expected.
Holm, J. L. (2010). Turtle in paradise . New York: Random House.
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