Turtle in Paradise: The Graphic Novel

My daughter said it was good book, and only one flaw! ☺️

My 4th graders loved this graphic novel. It really helped them to see what the characters and the Key West area looked like. I was very pleased!

I bought as a gift for my daughter for Christmas. When It came in the mail I noticed it had something all over the book. Very disappointed.

Readers of all ages (I'm 59 by the way) will enjoy reading Turtle's experiences and watch her life go from sour and rotten to one of joy and wonder. Beautifully drawn with a delightful semi-pastel color palette, there's plenty to like in Turtle in Paradise.

A heartwarming story about life in a slower time. It's 1935 and jobs are tough to find. When Turtle's mom gets a new cleaning job, she's not allowed to have her daughter with her, so she sends Turtle to the Florida Keys, to live with Turtle's aunt. Life in the Keys is a lot different than the life Turtle is used to in New Jersey and she struggles to find her place among all of her male cousins.But between tagging along with the diaper gang, hanging out with Mrs. Philly, and learning about a hidden treasure, there's a lot to keep Turtle busy until her mom sends for her.This was a great story with beautiful illustrations, and it was easy to get lost in the story. The characters are fleshed out pretty well for a middle-grades book, and the names of the various characters are hysterical. The illustrations by Savanna Ganucheau were simple - but all the more beautiful because of that simplicity. This is a graphic novel that I'll be returning to again in the future, whenever I need a vacation to a simpler, if not better, time.

I really like this book and all of its characters. It had a great story. It also had some sad parts. By the way, I am not Jordan, but I am using his account because I am his daughter.

Turtle in Paradise: The Graphic Novel has one of the prettiest and most colorful book covers I’ve ever seen. And obviously, as a human (aka someone who judges books by their covers), I was drawn to it. I had never read a Jennifer L. Holm book before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this middle grade graphic novel, an adaptation of a book by the same name, illustrated by Savanna Ganucheau and colored by Lark Pien. It’s sweet, tart, and endearing – just like a Key lime pie.For Turtle, growing up in the South during the Great Depression means that she’s used to uncertainty. She and her mother Sadiebelle (who has her head stuck firmly in the clouds) make due with any situation – even when Sadiebelle’s employer won’t allow children. So Turtle is shipped down to the Florida Keys to live with her cousins and aunt, whom she has never met before. Upon arrival, Turtle is alerted to the existence of a Diaper Gang, barefoot life, and other Conch (Florida Keys native) peculiarities. As she adjusts to life in the Keys, several mysteries unravel – and the only question remaining is: will Turtle finally find her home in Florida? Or will her mother eventually buy them a home in Georgia?Turtle in Paradise: The Graphic Novel is a gem of a graphic novel – full of shenanigans, feisty cousins, hard-headed Turtle, and the ups and downs of extended family life. For Turtle, who has been an only child, and a practical one at that, it is an adjustment. Turtle’s experiences, illustrated in loving detail and color, are by turns laugh-out-loud funny, bittersweet, and charming. The book reads as a series of connected vignettes, slowly illuminating the mysteries of Turtle’s parentage and lineage, the will-she/won’t-she of being able to keep her cat Smokey, and the all-consuming effort to earn money so that she and her mother can have the sense of security that a home would bring.I loved the historical tidbits and worries that are particular to Turtle’s time. She’s a product of her upbringing: practical, clever, and able to fit in with any crowd, and yet she has soft spots: for her cat, for her crotchety old grandmother, and for her mother, a dreamer who left Key West and ended up a housekeeper. I also loved the illustrations! Especially those of activities that barely exist in the US any longer: sponge fishing, turtle harvesting, encyclopedia sales, and so on. Through this book, can feel both the heat and the ocean breeze of the 1930s Keys.I already adored Savanna Ganucheau’s art from her collaboration with Kevin Panetta in their YA graphic novel Bloom, but this collaboration with Holm and Pien is something special. Ganucheau renders her art digitally in Photoshop, and Holm’s big-eyed characters emote in such a lovely way with those eyes. The art and text combination evoked smells, tastes, visuals, auditory stimulus, and, of course, feeling. In addition, colorist Pien’s pastel sherbet palette of colors is evocative of sun-drenched days and bright light. The combination of all three? A delight.In all, Turtle in Paradise is a pearl, a peach, a star! of a graphic novel, and one that I enjoyed in one gulp.Recommended for: fans of historical fiction, anyone who likes Savanna Ganucheau’s art (Bloom!), and those ready for a summer-y middle grade read filled with poignant moments, à la This One Summer and Be Prepared.

I haven't read the original novel this graphic novel adapts, but I bet it's lovely. This was a sweet story about family and life in depression-era Key West. The artwork brings it to life and cleverly makes the objects of a lot of nicknames and local slang more clear.