Turtle in Paradise

Holm, J. (2010). Turtle in Paradise. New York, NY: Random House.

Brief Annotation: When Turtle's mother gets a new job in New Jersey with an employers who hates children, Turtle is forced to move down to Key West, Florida to stay with her aunt and three cousins. She isn't allowed to be in her cousin's gang, and she discovers that the grandmother she had been told was dead is very much alive! Add to all this the discovery of a treasure map and Turtle is in for one interesting summer...

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade Level: Grade 3-6

Readers who will like this: Readers who like adventure or treasure tales. Readers who like to learn about the Depression-era.

Response/Rating (1-4): ***. This book was extremely easy to get into, and the writing style was whimsical and clever. The characters are all believable and likable. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and adventure.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: Have you ever been on a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt? What did you find?

Reading Strategies Connection:I think that a strategy that would work well with this novel would be a Feeling Chart (Yopp & Yopp page 87). After each chapter is read, the students each record how it has made them feel on their own individual chart, and after all the students are done, a classroom chart can be used. It would be especially helpful for students who identify with parts of the story.