Turtle Boy

March 1, 2020
A glum boy wants to stay in his bedroom with his turtles. Twelve-year-old Will stole his turtles from nature, including one he knows perfectly well is endangered, but he needs them to help him feel calm while he's hiding. Outside of his bedroom, schoolmates tease him for a mild facial disfigurement--calling him Turtle Boy not because of his pets but because of his chin, which is slowly receding--while Mom and Rabbi Harris pressure him to prepare for his bar mitzvah. A bar mitzvah community-service assignment forces him to befriend dying teen RJ, which gives Will flashbacks to when Dad died when Will was 4 and flash-forward fears to Will's upcoming facial surgery (for medical reasons, not cosmetic). With a light touch and occasional humor (can a Jewish turtle eat ham? What if he's Reform?), Wolkenstein successfully weaves together Will's gloom and avoidance, grief (portrayed, appropriately, as distinct from depression), emotional progress, and Jewish practice. Will's friendship with RJ and taking on of RJ's bucket list--including a roller coaster, a middle school dance, a loud concert, and a pet (can an endangered turtle live in a hospital?)--as proxy grants Will a new centeredness and kick-ass drummer skills; it's too bad that the life-lessons-from-dying-friend plot is such a clich�. Will and most characters seem white by default, with some diversity among secondary characters. A satisfying arc, from sadness to dawning hope and strength. (Fiction. 10-14)

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April 13, 2020
“I think it’s going to be a living nightmare,” Will Levine replies when his chirpy mother, on the first day of seventh grade, predicts that this year will be better than last. The forthright narrator of Wolkenstein’s debut middle grade novel proves prescient: he’s taunted by bullies who dub him “Turtle Boy” for his chin, which is shrinking due to micrognathia; he learns that he’ll need extensive surgery to correct the issue, which otherwise could affect his breathing; his best friend has ditched him for her volleyball teammates; and his emotional sanctuary, the swampland from which he has purloined several turtles that are now his beloved pets, is slated for development. Perhaps most unsettling to the boy, terrified of hospitals since his father’s sudden death during surgery, his rabbi recruits him to visit RJ, a hospitalized boy with a fatal illness, to fulfill his bar mitzvah community service requirement. Will’s affecting bond with the patient brings him out of his shell as he tackles comfort-level-defying challenges on RJ’s bucket list and reconciles long-simmering emotions linked to his own parents. A masterful mingling of deeply resonant themes, including self-esteem, loneliness, loss, and the rewards of improbable friendships. Ages 10–up.

May 1, 2020

Gr 5 Up-Will Levine is a seventh grader with several problems. He is bullied severely by his classmates for his small chin, his former science teacher discovers he has been hoarding wild turtles in his room from the marsh behind school, and now he's being forced to spend his spare time in the hospital visiting a terminally ill boy, RJ, as a community service project for his upcoming bar mitzvah. Will has an intense phobia of hospitals because his dad died in one when he was young; he is also fearful of an upcoming surgery he needs for medical reasons. However, RJ may be just the person to help Will shift his perspective and gain confidence. RJ asks Will to complete his bucket list on his behalf; Will dutifully forces himself to try new things (attending a rock concert, riding a roller coaster, attending a school dance, and playing drums at a talent show). Through this process, Will and RJ become close friends, which makes the idea of saying goodbye even more difficult. VERDICT A strong debut novel about grief, loss, and coming out of one's shell.-Laura Gardner, Dartmouth Middle School, MA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2020
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* The school bullies call 13-year-old Will Turtle Boy, not because he loves turtles but because, they say, he looks like one. Will has a condition called micrognathia with aplasia of the mandibular condyles, which means he has only a nub for a chin. The only thing he hates more than his chin is hospitals, because his dad died in one when Will was four. So it's ironic that Rabbi Harris insists Will complete 40 hours of community service?yes, at the hospital?before his bar mitzvah. His service? Visiting a desperately ill boy. Their initial meetings don't go well; Will finds the boy, RJ, to be impatient and rude. Gradually, though, the two begin a cautious friendship as RJ teaches Will to play the drums. And then something unforeseen happens: RJ asks Will to perform the wishes on RJ's bucket list so the dying boy can experience them vicariously. All of them will test Will, such as ride a roller coaster; of course, Will is afraid of heights and speed. Will he come out of his metaphorical shell and help his friend? Debut author Wolkenstein's well-plotted novel is a model of acute psychology and fully formed characters, even minor ones. The tone, too, is just right, and incidents are seamlessly integrated. Turtle Boy?both boy and book?is a winner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)