Turtle's mom is on her way down to meet up with her daughter, but when she arrives, she's got a surprise of her own in store: She's married Archie, a salesman she fell head-over-heels for. It's worth $20,000 and the gang splits it evenly between all of them, even cutting Nana Philly a portion since they found the map at her place. She trips over a rock with a C on it (for Black Caesar, perhaps?) and they find the treasure. Turtle's not so sure it's real, but she's willing to give it a try, so she enlists the help of the Diaper Gang and goes hunting.Īfter a lot of searching and disappointment, Beans is ready to give up, but Turtle wants to continue. One day, she finds an old treasure map in her grandma's rickety old piano that claims to show where Black Caesar's treasure is buried. Determined to make it work, Turtle keeps going back to her house and feeding her lunch, even if she gets nothing in return.

Turtle's even more down in the dumps when she meets her grandma-who she thought was dead-and finds that Nana Philly is a bitter old lady who hates kids. And no, we're not really sure where a kid named Beans gets off on mocking a kid named Turtle, but so it goes. They're not very welcoming to her, especially Beans who makes fun of Turtle's name and won't let her in his little club called the Diaper Gang. Turtle longs for her own home with her mom, where she doesn't have to share her stuff with her cousins. Yet that doesn't stop Aunt Minnie from taking Turtle in and giving her a home. Turtle feels a little sorry for herself-always being mocked by the kids her mom works for, never having their own house-but then she gets to Curry Lane in Key West where her Aunt Minnie lives. She's on her way down there when we catch up with her in fact. Besides, her new boss isn't too keen on children, so Turtle has to go live with her aunt in Florida for a while. Take her mom for example: Turtle's mom works really hard as a housekeeper, but she can never get lucky in love. Why? Turtle doesn't think life is like a movie-instead it's messy, complicated, and sometimes, you don't get a happy ending. Everyone on God's green earth is totally in love with the starlet, except for our main girl.

Except for one thing: She hates Shirley Temple. She's a typical eleven-year-old living through the Great Depression.

Turtle in paradise by jennifer l holm