Bibliography
Holm, J. L. 2010. Turtle In Paradise. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books. ISBN 9780375836909.
Plot Summary
As a result of the Great Depression, Turtle is sent to live with her aunt and cousins as her mother is unable to support her. She meets her cousins, Beans, Kermit, and Buddy, and Beans’ friend, Pork Chop, who make up a diaper-changing babysitter group named “The Diaper Gang.” Turtle finds a treasure map at her grandma’s house and convinces the Diaper Gang to tag along in an adventure to find the treasure, but after finding the treasure, her mother’s boyfriend, Archie, abandons them with the treasure. Turtle breaks down, expressing her hard-shelled yet soft personality as a child living through the Great Depression.
Critical Analysis
While there may not be many aspects which show the reader that the story takes place during the Great Depression, young readers can still learn and even relate to some of the time-specific experiences that are shown in this historical fiction novel. One way the readers can see this is with the shows Turtle watches, like “Little Orphan Annie” and “Shirley Temple”, which were real shows during the Great Depression. Along with this, the children’s actions reflect the measures taken by those who lived during the Great Depression, such as stealing and being sent to live with another family member because of financial issues, as “during the Great Depression [...] it was not unusual for parents to leave home in search of work or for children to be cared for by relatives” (“Author’s Note” pg. 179).
Children can also relate to Turtle because she is a kid who likes candy, as she and the other kids worked for it in the story. They also go crazy for ice cream when the ice cream man comes by. A more subtle youthful aspect of the story is the language used to identify characters, such as the name “The Diaper Gang”.
Review Excerpt(s)
Plot Summary
As a result of the Great Depression, Turtle is sent to live with her aunt and cousins as her mother is unable to support her. She meets her cousins, Beans, Kermit, and Buddy, and Beans’ friend, Pork Chop, who make up a diaper-changing babysitter group named “The Diaper Gang.” Turtle finds a treasure map at her grandma’s house and convinces the Diaper Gang to tag along in an adventure to find the treasure, but after finding the treasure, her mother’s boyfriend, Archie, abandons them with the treasure. Turtle breaks down, expressing her hard-shelled yet soft personality as a child living through the Great Depression.
Critical Analysis
While there may not be many aspects which show the reader that the story takes place during the Great Depression, young readers can still learn and even relate to some of the time-specific experiences that are shown in this historical fiction novel. One way the readers can see this is with the shows Turtle watches, like “Little Orphan Annie” and “Shirley Temple”, which were real shows during the Great Depression. Along with this, the children’s actions reflect the measures taken by those who lived during the Great Depression, such as stealing and being sent to live with another family member because of financial issues, as “during the Great Depression [...] it was not unusual for parents to leave home in search of work or for children to be cared for by relatives” (“Author’s Note” pg. 179).
Children can also relate to Turtle because she is a kid who likes candy, as she and the other kids worked for it in the story. They also go crazy for ice cream when the ice cream man comes by. A more subtle youthful aspect of the story is the language used to identify characters, such as the name “The Diaper Gang”.
Review Excerpt(s)
- 2011 Newbery Honor Book
- Starred review in Kirkus Reviews: “Sweet, funny and superb” (December 22, 2010).
Connections
- To show the difference between historical fiction and real-life events, students can read this story along with a nonfiction book revolving around the Great Depression and compare the two books.
- Students can do a point-of-view lesson and base their life and decision acting as “Turtle”.
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