Book Description:

Inspired by family stories, two-time Newbery Honor winner and New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Holm beautifully blends family lore with America's past in this charming gem of a novel, rich in historical detail, humor, and the unique flavors of Key West.

Life isn't like the movies, and eleven-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple. She's smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935, and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle's mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn't like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida, to stay with relatives she's never met.

Florida's like nothing Turtle has ever seen. It's hot and strange, full of wild green peeping out between houses, ragtag boy cousins, and secret treasure. Before she knows what's happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she has spent her life building, and as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways.

I'm finished reading this book. I gave this book to my mom JennyC1230 to read. She said she wants to read it.

I'm planning to read this soon. Thanks RCOUFan!

My Review: This was a wonderful book! There was a lot of humor and history in this story. The Turtle character was very believable and interesting. I've always had a fascination with Key West, Florida and seeing it through Turtle's eyes in 1935 was a wonderful way to get an idea of life in Key West at that time.

Favorite Quotes:

"Key West disappears behind us, and the ocean spreads out like a glassy blue road."

"Everyone's always saying that hard times bring out the best in people, but as far as I can tell, the only thing that hard times bring out is plain meanness."

If you have found this book, welcome to Bookcrossing and thank you for taking the time to let us know about its journey. Feel free to enjoy the book and pass it along to a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker, or simply leave it somewhere for another lucky reader to enjoy as you did! This book isn’t your type of read? No problem, don't feel obliged to read it, just be kind enough to help it on its journey. If you join, please use my name as your referring member: JennyC1230.

This book is starting out in the Teens Shrinking Bookbox.

I've read and enjoyed TWO other books with female characters called Turtle (The Westing Game and The Bean Trees, and this one is a Newbery Honor book, so I'll give it a try.

Taken from JennyC1230's Shrinking Teens Bookbox with thanks.

To our TOC get-together at Romano's; probably for purple58 to release at the Y for World Book Night.

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Thanks for finding this book!

If you're new to Bookcrossing, I hope you will take some time to explore this wonderful free and anonymous community and learn what it has to offer.

Freed any good books lately? It's good for the circulation. :)

From the Boy-

Thank you very much for sending this book to me. I think I will enjoy it quite a bit!