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(More customer reviews)Eleven year old Turtle doesn't like kids 'cause they are nothing like Shirley Temple (and Turtle doesn't like HER either). See, Turtle's had some bad experiences with the children of her mother's various employers. No kid is nice to the housekeeper's kid.
When Mama's new employer Mrs. Budnick shares Turtle's low opinion of children and refuses to let Turtle stay in her house, Mama sends Turtle to Key West and the home of an aunt and far too many boy cousins none of whom Turtle's ever met. New environment, new culture, new family, new rules.
Her eleven-year-old cousin Beans (everyone has a nickname, so Turtle fits in THAT way) runs the Diaper Gang, a babysitting service with a secret weapon against diaper rash & they have a rule: no girls allowed. Turtle usually tags along anyway because despite the colorful locals (including a very familiar mustached author) there isn't much to do on the island.
Her mother may have Hollywood dreams, but turtle is down to earth. She views life as more like the story of the three little pigs: you just set up a new house & a big bad wolf comes to blow it down (Mama's not the best at picking men)...but Archie could be different...but the two of them are up in New Jersey--while Turtle's stuck in the mud and the heat.
Holm again mixes her family's history with a well told story (much like she did in "Penny from Heaven" in 2006). This one has all the local color you could want and rum runners and pirates and a heroine who's just the right mix of snarky and charming. A winner for fans of Holm or historical fiction.
(And now full disclosure: I read most of this while walking on my treadmill right next to a framed manuscript page from "Penny from Heaven." I have met Jenny Holm & she's just about the nicest person you'd ever want to meet...so I may not be entirely unbiased. However, I have never been a fan of historical fiction & I really did not want to put this down. Holm & Cushman are the only ones who do that to me consistently!)
PS to the publisher: this cover has nothing to do with the book--it's very misleading!
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