Turtle in Paradise, The Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Savanna Ganucheau
Sadie is Turtle’s mom. She is working as a housekeeper, hoping to save enough money to buy a home for them. It could be a pipe dream, but Sadie believes in her fantasies. She has a beau named Archie. Because her employer doesn’t like kids, she sends Turtle to live with her sister Minerva, in Florida. When she arrives with her cat Smokey, the welcome is less than friendly as the children and her aunt did not know she was coming. They are poor and live a hardscrabble life, and she is an added burden.
Turtle is eleven years old and is just discovering that she has three boy cousins, a grandmother and an aunt and uncle she really doesn’t know. Her grandmother has a reputation of being a mean old lady, but an accident robbed her of her ability to yell at everyone so she is pretty helpless now. Turtle is smart. She knows that life is tough, and sometimes she is, too, so she is kind to her grandmother and helps her awaken her own kind side.

Her cousins are sometimes cruel to others, but they also have a good side. Turtle joins them babysitting for “bad babies”. They babysit for candy because no one there has any money. They change the diapers, use their own secret formula to heal the baby’s bums, and take them for rides in their wagon to put them to sleep. They also, however, play pranks on people and think it is funny when they are frightened. They have two sides too.
The children go in search of a lost pirate’s treasure. When their boat disappears, they are stranded with a storm approaching. It turns out to be a good learning experience for all of them. They have to face their fears. Everyone can make a mistake. It seems that once you get to know someone, you discover that even mean people can be nice, that some people are smarter than others but everyone can contribute, and that there are a few people who are simply bad and take advantage of others. They learn to really care about each other and their friends as they begin to understand that most people are worthy of respect.
The book gently exposes children to the travails of life. Infirmity, dishonesty and cruelty are among them. The ultimate moral of the tale is that life will not always turn out the way you want it to, but things have a way of working out, one way or another. The children face their fears and overcome them. The adults learn to deal with their sorrows. Mistakes are forgiven. Kindness prevails.
Sometimes the language and grammar in this graphic novel is too graphic. Sometimes the subject matter that concerns cruel pranks, stealing or misplaced anger, misses the opportunity of that teaching moment to encourage ethical and moral behavior. In the end, however, the appropriate lessons seemed learned. The story is deftly handled so that the value of hard work and the comfort of feeling wanted and loved are front and center. Kindness, sharing, and genuine love and concern won in the end, in this middle grade novel.