No one wears shoes in Key West.Ĭonchs Mama told me that Conchs are what folks in Key West call themselves. “They like to hide in dark places.” “Like shoes,” Aunt Minnie says pointedly, staring at my feet. “I don’t cater to fussy children.”-Turtle “Alligator pear on Cuban bread.” Aunt Minnie purses her lips. There’s a piece of thick toast with something green and slimy smeared on top of it. The Bellewood, Model 3304.-TurtleĪlligator Pear I stare at my plate. It’s a Sears mail-order house, from a kit. Sears Mail-Order House Mama’s promised me that someday we’re going to live in our own home. Everyone thinks she’s the cutest thing ever. Shirley Temple Shirley Temple is this kid actress everyone’s calling “America’s Little Darling.” She has dimpled cheeks and ringlet curls and is always breaking into song or doing a dance number at the drop of a hat. This is what cars looked like in the late 1920’s and the 1930’s. Edgit’s Ford Model A rumbles along the road, kicking up clouds of dust.

While Key West is far from the pristine paradise that Turtle’s idealistic mother has described, Turtle adjusts to life, proving herself to her aunt and cousins, discovers a grandmother she thought was dead, and uncovers a long lost treasure.įord Model A Turtle stares out the window as Mr. The United States is still suffering from the Great Depression, so when Turtle’s mother lands a housekeeping job with a woman who hates children, Turtle is sent from New Jersey to Key West to live with her Aunt Minnie and her many (boy) cousins.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm