Turtle Boy

This book is one of my favorite middle-grade novels. At first glance, it may not look like it’s about an environmentalist. Indeed, it is about many things. A boy with a medical condition that affects his chin and jaw. Bullying, grief, anxiety, drumming (!), bar mitzvah prep, coming out of one’s shell. And Will is not exactly modeling good conservation practices by taking turtles from the nearby marsh, caring for them in his bedroom, or gifting a Blanding’s turtle to a boy he visits in the hospital. But Will’s learning process about these turtles and their threatened habitat is a… show more.

Seventh-grader, Will Levine, has a condition that causes his chin to shrink during puberty. Bullied at school, kids call him Turtle Boy. The nickname is a double entendre since Will also loves turtles. As he prepares for his bar mitzvah, copes with the death of his father, and navigates a friendship with a terminally ill boy, Will also finds himself in a battle to preserve a marsh filled with endangered turtles. Will has to come out of his shell to prevent developers from destroying this environment. This book will inspire readers to speak up against injustices.