-sighs- I was pulled in by the concept of this book, but truthfully, it was a let down. And also extremely difficult to read; it made me uncomfortable, I didn't much feel like there was a difference in voices, be it the kids or the adults and regardless of gender. A lot of awkwardness and grimacing on my end. It sadly got to the point where I couldn't take any more, and though I pushed myself to get to exactly 50%, I had to stop. Because it was feeling more like a chore, and with my stress/anxiety/depression levels higher than normal, some reading sessions would accentuate that, triggering an almost dread, and that's never fair nor fun. I very much hope that this book resonates with others, that maybe it simply wasn't my jam, because again, the concept of befriending a terminally ill patient and finishing their Bucket List is a heartwarming and altruistic thing that *is* my cup of tea. Wolkenstein just didn't execute it correctly. HOWEVER, I very much appreciated the exposure to Jewish culture; *that* bit was well crafted.

Twelve-year-old Will is sad. His refuge is his bedroom with his turtles. Will’s passion for turtles is not the main reason he is teased at school and called Turtle Boy. Will has a mild facial disfigurement. He barely has a chin, making him look different which is just what the bullies thrive on...others differences.

Will’s family is Jewish, therefore his mom and Rabbi Harris pressure him to prepare for his bar mitzvah. He is completely reluctant because he veers away from any activity that draws attention to himself. In order to complete the contract of the bar mitzvah, Will must participate in a community-service project. He is assigned to reach out to a dying teen named RJ. RJ lives in a hospital room and Will doesn’t like hospitals. They give him flashbacks to when his Dad died. Will was 4 when his father went in for a simple hernia procedure and there was a complication. His father died.

At first, the boys don’t get along, but then RJ shares his bucket list with Will. Here are some of the things he wants to do: get a pet, ride a roller coaster, go to a concert attend school dance and dance with a girl, and swim in the ocean. This concept is foreign to Will who only wants to stay in his room with the simple company of his turtles. RJ’s disease takes a negative turn and Will realizes he needs to tackle the bucket list on his new friend’s behalf before it’s too late. It seems like an impossible mission, and is WAY outside Will’s comfort zone. He completes each task with RJ’s guidance and Will begins to see that life is too short to live in a shell.

There is a lot of wisdom in this book with some humor tossed in. I really enjoyed reading about the Jewish practices highlighted in the story. My review only touches of a tiny part of the events in the life of Will, making this a must read so you too can experience this marvelous debut novel.

The story is less about a boy being bullied and more about how he steps out of his comfort zone to help someone else and ending up helping his own self.

I predict Turtle Boy to be a big hit with middle and young adult readers. (Fiction. 10-14)

Thank you Random House Children and Delacorte Books for Young Readsrs for granting me permission to read this ARC. It’s a winner!

It’s not every day you read a book that’s like the last piece of cake.

Satisfying, yet maddening. Because you want more.

This book was adorable, and pleasant, and wonderfully heavily light. I understand if none of that makes sense to you. Let me explain:

I have never wanted to hug characters so much.

Will is adorable and wonderfully portrayed. Sometimes books with anxious or depressive characters are annoying, because they don’t show it as a personality trait. They show it s a consequence. In this case, I felt that Will was shown as having a nervous predisposition, and I deeply appreciated that. Mostly because I relate. Actually, my seventh grade self probably acted rather like Will.

I loved all of the characters, and how human everyone seemed. The Rabbi? Okay, he’s my hero. I love that dude. Shirah was cool. Max = wonderfully hyper.

I’m just going to applaud this book, and say I’ve been looking for one like it for a while.

I started this book thinking it was going to be a version of the book Wonder. And it was for a bit, the main character, Will, has a deformity with his chin, he gets teased for it, and needs surgery to correct it. Then as the book went along an environmental storyline about the Back 40, a nature area behind Will's school where he finds turtles popped up. Then I thought, oh this is more like the book Hoot. Then the storyline about Will's visits with hospital-bound RJ popped up and I realized this book is truly its own story. This is a wonderful coming of age story about a boy approaching his upcoming bar mitzvah. Will learns and grows as this book moves along and we learn and grow along with him.

I really enjoyed this book. I can't recommend it to my elementary school teachers as a read aloud because of a joke in the book playing with the word herp and herpes. Herpetology is the study of amphibians and Herb's Herps is the name of Will's favorite store to get his turtle supplies. And of course, it's funny -herps and herpes. But it would be awkward for an elementary school teacher to read aloud and in some cases, if students have opted out of family life education, it would be illegal. So, this lands the book square in middle and high school for me, which is not a bad thing. It's a great story, the main characters are teenagers and it will fit just fine. I guess I'm just a tad jealous because I wanted the book for my library in elementary school!