Turtle in Paradise

Turtle in Paradise | Historical Fiction | Jennifer L. Holm | Newbery; Texas Bluebonnet; Golden Kite Award | ages 9-11 |

In 1935, during the Great Depression, Turtle is forced to move with her cat Smokey to Florida with her mom's sister where she will meet the rest of her family and other people her mom knew with funky nick names, one being Slow Poke, who Turtle finds very sweet and likeable. She would've stayed with her mom if it weren't for the desperate need of money, so while her mom worked at as a servant where no kids were allowed, Turtle went to live with her aunt and cousins, leaving her mom and her mom's new boyfriend, Archie behind. She arrives to Florida and meets her cousins who she doesn't seem impressed with. She tags along with them though as they work around the town as the Diaper Gang helping neighbors with their babies in exchange for candy since nobody has any money. During her time here, Turtle finds out she has a grandma- her mom's mother whom supposedly was dead. Turtle wonders why her mom would tell her this lie and why everybody thinks so negatively of her grandma. She soon finds out why though. She really is a mean old lady but weirdly enough, Turtle and her make a connection. One day, Turtle's cat was walking over her grandma's piano when suddenly it collapses. Turtle finds inside many things, one being a treasure map from pirates long ago. Turtle and her cousins go on the search for the treasure on another island and borrow a boat to get there. Surprisingly, the treasure turns out to be real, but soon a huge storm comes their way and they've lost the boat, leaving them stranded on this island with no help and no food. Luckily, they survive and people from the village find them, Slow Poke being her hero. When they get back, Turtle's mom and Archie are here with big news. They just got married which made Turtle and her mom feel so happy. Like a family. Slow Poke seems to be upset and mentions he is once again too late. It is then when Turtle realizes who her father is. Shortly after this great celebration, Archie runs away taking Turtle's share of the treasure to Cuba. And even though she lost her money, she knew the real treasure was being with the people that surrounded her. 

This is a great story that doesn't include too much of the factual information that'll make students feel like they are reading to learn a specific lesson. The setting of the book can introduce them to the Great Depression and have think about what life was like then. However, it doesn't include in depth reading of every single detail concerning the government, the nation, etc. It's a story of a girl living in this time showing her struggles and what her life was like with a smidge of adventure. I enjoyed this book and I can see myself using this book to have the class, third to seventh grade, read this book and talk about what are some things they learned about living in this time. Afterwards, you can have the students do a short diary/journal entry that a character like Turtle would do considering the challenges of this time.