Turtle in Paradise

Plot Summary
Turtle and her mother barely make ends meet. They dream of owning a mail-order home, instead of getting free room and board in the houses where Mama does chores. When a woman who hires Mama doesn’t want children around, Turtle is shipped off to Key West to stay with her aunt. Turtle spends her days with three boy cousins and a group of their friends, who call themselves Diaper Gang because they babysit the island’s babies. She’s determined to make money to help get a house for her and Mama, and she’ll try anything - from working on a boat, to searching for buried treasure.

Critical Analysis
     Characters.
Turtle is a relatable character - a fun girl with a sharp wit who can dish it out as good as she gets it. As flippant as her comebacks can be, she has a lot of heart, and loves her mother and pet cat more than anything. The boys she eventually befriends are also extremely believable; they act like frustrating young boys until you get under their tough exterior and find their quirks. The adults all act like real people as well, though they play minor roles - the author lets the kids run the show.

     Plot and Setting.
This book feels timeless, like it could be set in any era. The town’s slow pace and sense of community come across as typical island lifestyle, but references to the Great Depression, Ernest Hemingway, and the Labor Day Hurricane pinpoint the year as 1935. The shabbiness is contrasted by the vibrant plant life: “Truth is, the place looks like a broken chair that’s been left out in the sun to rot” (13), but it looks like “Mother Nature is trying to pretty up the place” (14).

     Theme.
Turtle wants a home she and her mother can call their own. She’ll do whatever she can to help make that happen. This was a common aspiration in the aftermath of the Great Depression, and is still relevant today, as our economy struggles to balance after a crash. Regardless of upbringing, books about childhood are universal, inspiring memories of striving to fit in, long days of play, and the possibility of treasure.

     Style.
The carefree tone of the narration fits perfectly with the island lifestyle. The dialect is integrated smoothly so all ages can follow it without tripping over strange sounds; context clues help define any unknown words, and the custom of giving unique nicknames to everyone helps the reader easily slip into the story.

Personal Response
I loved this book; it was easy to read and get sucked in to, and it reminded me of a book I loved as a child: Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself. It was interesting to read Turtle in Paradise for the first time as an adult because I could relate to all the characters, children and grown-ups, in different ways. It made certain plot points difficult to get caught up in, like hunting for treasure, or stomaching Turtle’s mother’s love life, but did not detract from the story. I would recommend it to children and adults.

Reviews & Awards
Awards include the Newbery Honor, Golden Kite Award, Booklist Editor’s Choice, and Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Book of 2010, just to name a few! In a starred review, Booklist says “Holm uses family stories as the basis for this tale, part romp, part steely-eyed look at the Depression era. […] Turtle is just the right mixture of knowingness and hope; the plot is a hilarious blend of family dramas seasoned with a dollop of adventure.”

Connections & Activities
It’s fascinating to read about other girls who lived in this era - they are so similar to girls today, yet offer such an expansive worldview, even if the setting is America! Recommend some similar novels:
     When her father commits suicide after losing everything in the Great Depression, Frances lives as a hobo in Nowhere to Call Home by Cynthia DeFelice. ISBN 9780380733064
     Mary Alice leaves Chicago to spend a year with her grandmother in a small Illinois town in A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. ISBN 9780803725188
     A drought forces Billie Jo to leave her home in Oklahoma during the Great Depression in Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. ISBN 9780590371254

Read it for yourself!
Holm, Jennifer L. 2010. Turtle in Paradise. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780375936883

The Tarantula Scientist

Plot Summary
Tarantulas are misunderstood, billed as the scariest, deadliest spider known to man. In reality, their bites have never killed a man, and they would rather hide than harm a human. In this book, Sy Montgomery follows Sam Marshall, an arachnologist who studies wherever the tarantulas call him. The book explains the parts of tarantulas, how they got their name, spiders who are confused as tarantulas, and more. Sy Montgomery follows Marshall as he stalks tarantulas in South America, then studies them in his lab in Hiram, Ohio.

Critical Analysis
     Accuracy.
The book is clearly well-researched, since Sy Montgomery conducted much of her research right alongside Sam Marshall. The book ends with a lot of information about handling (or not…) tarantulas, spider statistics, and a breakdown of terms used throughout the book. There is also a section about how the book was researched, giving details about the author and photographer and how they compiled the book. There is also a bibliography, as well as websites to further research tarantulas.

     Organization.
Montgomery has the perfect approach to this book: he writes to the reader as if they already know everything, yet explains things in ways that build them up to actually know everything. Difficult words are spelled out phonetically in parenthesis, and a lot of terms and methods are explained, but not in a way that makes readers feel dumb. Chapters are creatively titled, but not listed in a table of contents.

     Design.
It is hard to speak to the book’s attractiveness, since I personally am creeped out by tarantulas despite learning that they are not harmful to humans. Trying to be diplomatic, I must say that Nic Bishop’s photographs are amazing. There are extreme close-ups, showing the true beauty of tarantulas. The photographs aren’t limited to tarantulas, also showing wasp nests and Marshall at work in his lab. There are photos on every page, even if it’s a text-heavy page with just a few tarantulas “crawling” up the margins.

     Style.
This book was a little more cut-and-dried than the others I read for the informational genre, but that didn’t make it hard to read. It gave a lot of great information about tarantulas, as well as gorgeous (I have to admit!) photographs. The author didn’t seem especially passionate about the subject, but I think in this case, it worked to have some distance from the author and the subject. I think an author who loved tarantulas too much might have made the subject harder to handle, but the book was written as a perfect mix of knowledge and passion.

Personal Response
I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of spiders, especially tarantulas, but this book completely drew me in. The photographs, I could have done without. I shuddered every time I looked at them! But the knowledge I accrued from reading this book was amazing! Tarantulas are something I never would have looked into on my own - I think they’re too creepy, but honestly, most of the knowledge I had about them was false! I loved learning that they didn’t harm humans, and that they had teeth as well as fangs, and more. I think that reading children’s nonfiction will actually be the way I approach learning new things that I don’t really want to learn about!

Reviews & Awards
From School Library Journal: “Informative, yes, but even more important, this is a vivid look at an enthusiastic scientist energetically and happily at work, both in the field and in the lab, questioning, examining, testing, and making connections. A treat, even for arachnophobes.”
     From Booklist: “Enthusiasm for the subject and respect for both Marshall and his eight-legged subjects come through on every page of the clear, informative, and even occasionally humorous text. Bishop's full-color photos, which concentrate on detail, not scale, are amazing--Marshall coaxing an elusive tarantula into the open or bringing readers literally face-to-face with a hairy spider. […] Readers will come away armed with facts about spiders in general and tarantulas in particular, but even more important, they'll have a clear understanding of how the answers derived from research become the roots of new, intriguing questions.”

Connections & Activities
The Tarantula Scientist is part of a series called “Scientists in the Field,” which can be further researched at ScienceMeetsAdventure.com. Other books in this series include:
     Hidden Worlds: Looking Through a Scientist’s Microscope by Stephen Kramer and Dennis Kunkel. ISBN 9780618354054
     The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch. ISBN 9780547478814
     Eruption!: Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives by Elizabeth Rusch and Tom Uhlman. ISBN 9780547503509

Read it for yourself!
Murphy, Jim. 2012. The Giant and How He Humbugged America. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780439691840