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Publication
Delacorte Press (2020), 400 pages
Description
Seventh-grader Will's Bar Mitzvah community service project, visiting an incurably ill older boy in the hospital, leads to a friendship that is life-changing for both them and those around them.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jothebookgirl
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
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!
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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!
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LibraryThing member acargile
Turtle Boy is a 2022 Lone Star selection.
I was talking to a class about this novel, and a student said, "That's not what I thought it would be about." I agree that what you think after seeing the cover and what the book is about is completely different, yet I believe it's a good cover. Will, our
Life doesn't let a person stay in his room. Will needs 48 hours of community service for his bar mitzvah. He refuses all suggestions from the Rabbi until the Rabbi says that Will needs to visit RJ. RJ has a disease that is killing him; he's in the hospital by himself most of the day, alone. His mother is dead and his father stays at night because he drives a truck during the day. He needs a friend. Will does not want to go to a hospital--not after what happened to his father, but he must. He finds that he likes RJ although RJ makes him take risks. RJ will never experience any other life than his small hospital room, so he asks Will to do activities for him and then tell him about them. These experiences force Will (how can you say no to someone dying?) to do things. He has to do things he would never do. These all take courage that Will doesn't think he has. It's like Rabbi Harris tells him, "In life, we have moments of truth, where everything is on the line. And when these moments happen, we never have cheat sheets. We only have our instincts and the skills we've developed over the years." Will can't lie or pretend, he has to face life and use the skills he's developing to find himself, to find courage to leave his shell and experience life.
I really enjoyed the book. If you like to cry when you read a book, you will enjoy this novel. Afterall, you know RJ is going to die. I like the positive messages--that how we see ourselves should be based on how those who love us see us (252) instead of having a negative self view. We all have to find who we want to be and how we want to exist in this world of other humans. It takes courage to leave one's shell and venture forth. As Will says, "Courage is taking opportunities that come along, not running from them, not hiding." You may cry, but you'll finish applauding the courage and changes that allow Will to become a better Will.
I was talking to a class about this novel, and a student said, "That's not what I thought it would be about." I agree that what you think after seeing the cover and what the book is about is completely different, yet I believe it's a good cover. Will, our
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main character, prefers staying at home, safe in his shell. His room has homes for his "pet" turtles even though he shouldn't have them. Ironically, having turtles isn't why he's called Turtle Boy. He has an odd chin, and a mean little boy started calling him this nickname. Because the kid notices his chin, Will tells his mother which means a trip to the doctor. He actually has a condition that makes his jaw move funny and he will need surgery to correct so that his jaw moves correctly, allowing him to eat and breath correctly. He really doesn't want to have surgery because his dad died after a hernia operation. Because of his perceived deformed face, Will covers up his chin and stays in his room as much as possible.Life doesn't let a person stay in his room. Will needs 48 hours of community service for his bar mitzvah. He refuses all suggestions from the Rabbi until the Rabbi says that Will needs to visit RJ. RJ has a disease that is killing him; he's in the hospital by himself most of the day, alone. His mother is dead and his father stays at night because he drives a truck during the day. He needs a friend. Will does not want to go to a hospital--not after what happened to his father, but he must. He finds that he likes RJ although RJ makes him take risks. RJ will never experience any other life than his small hospital room, so he asks Will to do activities for him and then tell him about them. These experiences force Will (how can you say no to someone dying?) to do things. He has to do things he would never do. These all take courage that Will doesn't think he has. It's like Rabbi Harris tells him, "In life, we have moments of truth, where everything is on the line. And when these moments happen, we never have cheat sheets. We only have our instincts and the skills we've developed over the years." Will can't lie or pretend, he has to face life and use the skills he's developing to find himself, to find courage to leave his shell and experience life.
I really enjoyed the book. If you like to cry when you read a book, you will enjoy this novel. Afterall, you know RJ is going to die. I like the positive messages--that how we see ourselves should be based on how those who love us see us (252) instead of having a negative self view. We all have to find who we want to be and how we want to exist in this world of other humans. It takes courage to leave one's shell and venture forth. As Will says, "Courage is taking opportunities that come along, not running from them, not hiding." You may cry, but you'll finish applauding the courage and changes that allow Will to become a better Will.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
Partially based on the author's experiences with facial abnormality, tells the story of 12 YO Will Levine's difficult 7th grade year. Turtles, a terminally ill new friend, a bucket list and a Bar Mitzvah, in addition to trying to save a wetland habitat and deal with long buried grief for his
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father. Really well done, and particularly good at the solace that music can bring to this age group. Feels a lot like Wink with drums and a Jewish focus instead. Tearjerker in a good way. Great book! Show Less
LibraryThing member managedbybooks
Seventh grade is not going well for Will Levine. Kids at school bully him because of his funny-looking chin. His science teacher finds out about the turtles he spent his summer collecting from the marsh behind school and orders him to release them back into the wild. And for his bar mitzvah
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community service project, he has to go to the hospital to visit RJ, an older boy struggling with an incurable disease. Unfortunately, Will hates hospitals. Show Less
LibraryThing member ewyatt
This book took me awhile to get into, but once it had me - it had me. it's the story of a boy who is living with the shadow of his dad who died when he was 4 unexpectedly during a hernia surgery. Will finds out he is dealing with a condition that is impacting his jaw (thus the taunts of Turtle Boy
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by some mean classmates) and will require surgery. He's freak. Also preparing for his bar mitvah, he needs community service and starts to spend time with RJ, a terminally ill high schooler who has been hospitalized. Will works with RJ to complete his bucket list, all the while challenging himself and getting out of his comfort zone and his head to accomplish things that profoundly change him. There's friendship, self confidence, family, friendship, grief, recovery, environmental activism - all kinds of stuff in this book. It touched me and made me cry. Show Less
Awards
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
Sydney Taylor Book Award (Winner — Middle Grades — 2021)
Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Nominee — 2023)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2023)
Rhode Island Middle School Book Award (Nominee — 2023)
Original language
English
Physical description
400 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
0593121570 / 9780593121573