Sunday 27 December 2020
Review: Turtle Boy
For young readers this is arguably most significant as children are at last able to read and connect with storylines, characters, problems, and issues that reflect their own circumstances.
Will Levine is not your regular middle-schooler. He is passionate and knowledgeable about herpetology, in particular turtles. But this scientific interest is not the reason for his nickname at school, Turtle Boy.
That has come from the jibes of cruel fellow students who delight in mocking
Will for his maxillofacial condition which makes his chin appear non-existent
and hinders the way he eats.
The time has come for Will to face surgery to correct
his condition and not just for cosmetic reasons but the very thought of the
operation and all it entails is enough to terrify him. His father died having
what was meant to be a routine hernia operation and Will and his mother have
been grieving for eight years. Will’s only true sanctuary has been the nature
reserve behind his school known as the Back 40 and that has come under threat
from developers. His minimal friendships
are dissolving through misunderstandings and hurt feelings leaving him even
more disconnected.
Will’s operation is not the only terror looming in his
life. His Bar Mitzvah is coming up and the prospect of the whole synagogue
scrutinising him is terrifying. To make matters even worse Rabbi Harris has
assigned Will to visit some sick kid as his 40 hours of community service
before the ceremony. Could anything else
possibly go wrong for Will? The withdrawal into his metaphorical shell becomes
more pronounced by the day as his anxiety and depression levels escalate
leaving Will feeling isolated, helpless, and hopeless.
Will’s first meeting with RJ who has a mitochondrial
disease is spectacularly unsuccessful as two more dissimilar boys could surely never
have been put together in an enclosed space.
Yet, week by week, Will and RJ create a friendship bond like no other.
It is an alliance forged from complete polarities yet unswervingly moves
towards shared passions, skills, strengths, and emotions.
Will’s friendship with RJ empowers him to be a
risk-taker, an activist, a thrill-seeker, a musician and above all a young man
who is confident and comfortable in his own physical as well as mental being.
This remarkable book, which even more remarkably started as short cartoon strip, will make the reader laugh and cry, rejoice and hope and, perhaps above all, see that there is goodness and grace in the world often found in unexpected places.
Title: Turtle Boy
Author: M Evan Wolkenstein
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia, $14.99
Publication Date: October 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781474981385
For ages: 10+
Type: Middle Grade Fiction