TURTLE IN PARADISE SC

It’s 1935, and eleven-year-old Turtle has been sent off to live with her Aunt in Florida. Shy Turtle is unused to other children, and especially her group of chaotic cousins: the cunning and industrious Beans, sickly but determined Kermit, and energetic and precocious Buddy. Together with best friend Pork Chop, they form the Diaper Gang, a babysitting and candy-seeking group of some-time troublemakers. Broken up into bite-sized chapters, Turtle in Paradise weaves small town adventures with a wider narrative undercurrent in a way that feels utterly addictive and familiar in the best way. Savanna Ganucheau’s art is expressive and energetic (as one would expect from her ever-popular Bloom), fully realising this large cast and beautiful setting. This is an adaptation (of Jennifer L. Holm’s 2011 children’s book of the same name), but it already feels like a timeless classic.