Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm

Turtle in Paradise
Jennifer L. Holm

Holm, Jennifer L. 2010. Turtle in Paradise. New York: Random House. ISBN: 9780375836886.

Life is hard in every generation, but the Depression era is hard to beat. Turtle, the courageous main character in Turtle in Paradise, shows the reader how to live life to the fullest no matter what your circumstances may be. Turtle is an 11 year old girl living in the Great Depression era, specifically 1935. Her mother, a housekeeper, has dreams of being a Hollywood actress and is always looking for love in the wrong places. At the start of a new job that does not allow children, Turtle’s mother has no choice but to send Turtle to live with her Aunt Minerva in Key West. Slightly scared and sometimes lonely, Turtle has to adjust to life with cousins, family, and new acquaintances. Every day sees Turtle becoming more outgoing and forward as she adjust to her new life. Treasure hunting leads to Turtle and her cousins being trapped on a small island during a hurricane, but this same hurricane also brings her mother back to her. With a con man feigning love for Turtle’s mother, he steals the Turtle’s share of the treasure and leaves Turtle and her mother to start their life over together on Key West, this time with the love and help of an extended family.

The characters in the young adult historical novel are vibrant and colorful. Turtle, the main character, is witty, bold, and much older than her 11 years. She is easy to identify with as a person and her personality traits transcend time to be relevant to today’s readers. The people that live on Key West are a close knit community and look out for one another’s interests. However, they do not at any time seem unbelievable. The reader can feel the tides of the time in how they act, talk, and move; everything is meant to save resources. The plot of this story is very dependent on the characters. Each character brings something to the plot and without them something would be lost. It is also presented accurately to the reader. There was no money and this is very apparent on Key West where favors are traded for food, and people work for items versus money.

The setting of this story is described and envisioned in perfect detail. Descriptions are vivid and paint a picture that can be imprinted on the reader’s imagination. For this story Key West is the major setting and Turtle’s descriptions are masterful. “The place looks like a broken chair that’s been left out in the sun to rot” (pg. 13), and “It’s the green peeping out everywhere that catches my eye…like Mother Nature is trying to pretty up the place” (pg. 14). Since the setting is based on the author’s great-grandmother’s life there the author has first and second hand knowledge of the environment from which her characters emerge.

The theme of this novel centers around family and what it means to different people. To Turtle it is her mother until she meets all her relatives on Key West. These people become her world even though she has only known them a short time. This is a timeless theme in children’s literature. The need to know where you’ve come from and where you may be going is prevalent through the character of Turtle.

This story is written in first person through Turtle. It captures how an 11 year old girl might feel, think, and act during the Depression era. The speech patterns are like any group of children would talk, which makes it easy to identify with the characters. The style reflects perceptions of the time and how a close knit group invents its own language and syntax that is familiar only to them.

One of the greatest aspects of this story is that it is based on the author’s ancestors. This can lead to a bias but also an authenticity that a researcher cannot duplicate. Holm includes in her author’s note a biography and pictures of her great grandmother and Key West. She also includes resources and websites that she used when writing her book. Stereotyping is minimal as she wrote what she knew not what she thought she knew. Basing her characters on those that really existed leads to a fine balance of fact and fiction.

Starred Review in Booklist
“Holm uses family stories as the basis for this tale, part romp, part steely-eyed look at the Depression era. Reminiscent of Addie in the movie Paper Moon, 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. The many references to 1930s entertainments (Terry and the Pirates, Shirley Temple) will mostly go over kids' heads, but they'll get how much comics and movies meant to a population desperate for smiles. An author's note (with photos) shows Holm's family close-up. --Ilene Cooper

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."

Along with stellar reviews, Turtle in Paradise has also won many awards. It is a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA-ALSC Children’s Notable Book, and a nominee for a Cybil Award.

Since Jennifer Holm is also an author of graphic novels a fun project for a class or group would be to put Turtle in Paradise into graphic novel form. Graphic novels are becoming more prevalent for readers of all ages, reluctant readers might find this form of expression easier to read. The book has 18 chapters, depending on class or group size, each group can take a chapter and turn it into a graphic novel chapter. At the end of the project the chapters can be bound and reprinted so each person can have their own copy.