Kids who experience bullying at school will definitely relate to Will. He's never been the most popular kids, but due to a genetic malformation of his chin, he's a bigger target than ever. On top of the anxiety from his bullies, he's preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. He needs to learn a Torah portion, prepare a speech, and complete volunteer hours. After several failed volunteer experiences, his rabbi places Will in a hospital, his least favorite place. Will's assigned to visit with RJ, who has an incurable, and terminal, genetic condition. As their friendship grows, RJ asks Will for a favor. Since RJ can't anymore, he asks Will to help him complete his Bucket List, including swimming, going to a concert and a dance, and performing at the talent show. As Will completes each task he comes more and more out of his shell. Will really grows throughout the story and learns a lot about himself (and others) along the way.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really and truly loved this book. There were so many important issues, but Wolkenstein did a fabulous job weaving everything together. When I usually read a book like this, my heart just immediately attaches to the person in the hospital (RJ). But Will definitely stole the show and my heart. It was such an honest look at struggling with self-esteem and facing your fears. I thought the way grief was addressed was spot on as well. This book came out May 5 - I recommend it!

I really enjoyed this book. There is so much happening in this book, so much that it seems unlikely that the author could pull it off and still make a palatable middle grade novel. However, I felt so connected to the character that it worked This novel has the main character struggling with crippling shyness, a cranio facial defect, an upcoming surgery, a terror of hospitals, befriending a dying teen (who does not miraculously recover), being raised by a single parent who still struggles with grief, grappling with environmental issues, all while preparing for his bar mitzvah. Surprisingly, the author deals with all of these subjects (and other middle school terrors) while still creating a realistic main character. By the time the novel ends, Will's character growth seems like a natural progression, much as the idea of the bar mitzvah transitioning from child to adult. The author takes his time with the plot and Will's story. Will is 12, has a surgery looming to create a birth defect which absolutely terrifies him- his father died in a hospital after a routine surgery - likely due to the same defect that Will is having repaired. This is also the year leading up to his bar mitzvah, and Will needs to do a bar mitzvah project - forty hours of volunteer service. It's very clear Will does not want to do this and he passively aggressively turns down or doesn't show up to volunteer opportunities. So, his rabbi drags him to the hospital to spend time with a teen there. The friendship is not immediate - they ignore each other. So when the talking begins, it does feel natural, stilted, awkward, uncomfortable. . And when Ralph begins asking Will to live a little for him - Will's initial response is no. And it stays no - until it doesn't. His friendship with Ralph gives Will the courage to do things he won't do for himself, and it changes him. However, the changes feel organic and natural for the character - he just learns to speak his own truths, and to discovered that people will be interested in them. I felt this was a sweet little novel and I can't wait to see what the author does next.

Kudos to Evan Wolkenstein for writing the first book this elementary librarian has been able to start and most importantly FINISH since the Covid19 outbreak and distance learning began. Fans of Wonder and Captain Superlative will not be disappointed.

Love how this book introduce these characters and problems were also very real. Very real problems, in a teens world. How it all seems end of the world, but in reality all becomes normalcy.

WOW! From the moment I started this book, I could not put it down. In the beginning, I felt for Will. He was being bullied incessantly and others did not seem to understand the affect it was having on him. He was already quiet and had been dealt a rotten hand by losing his father at a young age. Now he was having to navigate 7th grade with a growing facial deformity by being bullied daily and the internal struggle of the expectations given to him by his rabbi. His mother and Rabbi arrange for him to visit a young man in the hospital to complete his community volunteer hours required for his Bar Mitzvah. Major problem – he has a compete fear of hospitals and RJ – the boy he is visiting – seems to not even want him there.
The path of that Will and RJ take toward friendship is a bumpy one. They both learn a lot from each other and grow because of it. This book left me laughing out loud, crying tears of happiness, joy and sadness and remembering what it feels like to be in the 7th grade and not realize how much power you do have over your own life. This book will be enjoyed by middle grades, high school age and adults alike. The life lesson taught are ones that everyone can benefit from. The reader will walk though grief, happiness, hopelessness and into hope. End the end can Will learn that there is so much more to life than hiding in your shell and if you open yourself up – yes you may be hurt – but you will also find unimaginable joy.

This book. Wow. I felt that its characters were true to life and definitely relatable. With the mother struggling with her own grief and just being a mom to the main character dealing with bullies, friends, religion plus a service project hours that turns into so much more.

This book gave me so many feels. Highly recommended for 5th graders on up.

Will faces more challenges then most. But, his story suffers from lack of focus. I read somewhere this book is a bit like Wonder. But it also has elements of The Fault in Our Stars, hints of environmental concerns like a Hiaasen novel, religious/cultural overtones, bullying, and so many undeveloped story lines that I gave up on it. It would have been a much better book if a focus had been chosen and developed.

I loved Turtle Boy. The main character, Will, was easy to relate to and have empathy for. I think we all have had something we have been self-conscious about at some point in our lives. His is a chin malformation and because of this he is bullied and called turtle boy. As he learns to deal with this, he is required to visit a very ill older boy, RJ, in the hospital numerous times for a community service project. His relationship with RJ starts off rocky, but grows into a fabulous friendship. I cheered Will on as he completed some of the items on RJ's bucket list. He learns a lot about himself, family, friendship, life and death during this time,

All in all a great read!

I loved the concept of this book, but it was over the top treacle. It felt like the book was trying to check too many boxes: dead dad! Dying friend! Kid who gets teased for his weird face! Saving the turtles! The story would have been more believable if less was being accomplished in the narrative.

This is a moving story of friendship, trust, grief and loss. Will is known as Turtle boy because of a facial deformity and he is hiding his face from the world. He learns about true friendship and to put others in front of his own desires. Will breaks the barrier one by one as he takes on his friends bucket list. This moving story is set in a Jewish school and community. It’s wonderful seeing Will change and how he learns to heal from grief. His family and friends see him without his shell.

Will is 12 and struggling. His dad died when he was four, leaving Will with a complete terror of hospitals and medicine in general. His coping strategy for any difficulties is withdrawal and the kids have started to notice and tease him about being a turtle, which is a little ironic, because Will loves turtles and reptiles. Will is also preparing for his Bar Mitzvah and is required to complete some community service hours. His rabbi suggests that he do the time at a local hospital visiting a young patient named RJ, who has a degenerative, terminal illness. Will is also struggling with the kids at school who tease and bully him and he's managing to offend even the kids who he considers close friends. This is a story that has big, wide ranging themes from bullying and friendship (even a little teen romance) to endangered animals and land conservation, to death and dying. There's also a big picture of Jewish culture, which I really enjoyed. I think middle grade students are going to enjoy getting to know Will and his circle of friends and cheering Will on as takes chances and comes out of his shell.

I loved this book! It reminded me of books like Wonder and Fish In A Tree. Will was a likable character who I was rooting for and I appreciate the way the book had diverse characters. There are not a lot of middle grade books that cover the Jewish bar/bat mitzvah experiences, and I felt I learned more about Jewish culture. I think middle grade students will really enjoy this one.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy. 12-year-old Will is facing surgery for a medical condition that is causing his chin to recede. But his fear of hospitals and death is deep-rooted, beginning with the death of his father after a routine surgery. Coerced by his rabbi into volunteering to sit with a terminally ill teen, Will has no idea that his life will never be the same. Themes of friendship, bullying. grief and self-esteem lead to some fairly predictable plot points. Will's struggle with grief and fear ring true, while the struggles between him and his mom are quite relatable if frustrating. The pace is a bit slow at points, but all-in-all a good read.

While I appreciated the wide range of topics covered in this story- bullying, grief, Jewish customs, being kind to the environment- I found this book to be disappointing. The plot was predictable, and the relationships between the characters felt forced and lacking in depth. This won’t be a title that I’ll recommend to young readers.

Wow, what an adventure! I never expected to love this book, but I do! I had so many emotions throughout the book. I was angry at the bullies, I felt embarrassed along with the kids that were teased, deep sadness and happiness.

The author took his time to build the world and develop the characters. I felt like I was there with them through everything. Things were messy and hard but just right. As a teacher I feel that this book is just right to teach us about life and love.

I found this one a little heavy handed and found I was sometimes made uncomfortable with the placement of RJ (and, in particular, RJ's illness) as a sort of object lesson for Will's development of self. While this wasn't a consistent sense, it cropped up enough that I felt unnerved

Love, love, love this book!! Will is the target of bullies because of a medical condition that gives him the appearance of having no chin. When Will is required to log service hours prior to his Bar Mitzvah, he meets a young man who is dying in the hospital. Through the course of the novel, Will learns how to become a better friend and to widen his scope past his own wants and needs. Perfect for fans of Wonder!

Will is super self conscious about his face - mainly his chin that is really small and makes him look like a turtle. He gets teased about it at school. Ironic that he actually loves turtles. He can have surgery to correct the issue - but his dad died in surgery years ago and he is terrified. In fact, if he's honest he is terrified of a lot.
With his bar mitzvah coming up Will needs to do a mitzvah - something good for someone. His rabbi finally talks him into going into the hospital to meet a boy who is really sick. At first Will hates it but as he gets to know RJ his life is changed forever.
I really loved this - friendship, internal struggles, grief, hope, even a bit of a romance. I am worried that the 400 pages will deter some readers. I read it on my iPad in about 2 1/2 hours though - the chapters are relatively short and it was fairly engaging throughout.

“In life,” he says, “we have moments of truth, where everything is on the line. And when these moments happen, we never have cheat sheets. We only have our instincts and the skills we’ve developed over the years.”

Don’t let yourself be fooled by the bright cover; this is one dark story. Seventh grade isn’t going too well for Will – bullied for his nonexistent chin and called Turtle Boy (which is kind of ironic because Will happens to love turtles) at school, Will also faces a surgery to combat his micrognathia.  

The only thing? Will is terrified of hospitals ever since his father died during a routine surgery when Will was only four years old. In an attempt to help Will lose his fear of hospitals, his mother and his Rabbi decide to make him visit a teenager at the hospital, RJ, as part of his community service project that he needs to complete before his Bar Mitzvah. RJ has a mitochondrial disease, has been cooped up at the hospital for ages, and doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to volunteers spending time with him. Actually, he loves to drive them away within the first hour. But RJ is dying and Will may be his last chance to finish all the things on his bucket list before he is gone… Though the boys don’t get along at the beginning and snap at each other quite like turtles do when they feel a stranger invading their territory, their friendship blossoms as RJ helps Will come out of his shell.

There’s a certain magic to middle-grade novels, the way they approach topics that feel insurmountable – and Turtle Boy does this with a big one.

This book tackles grief and the many instances in which it presents itself – it isn’t always crying in secret or avoiding the topic of the loss. Sometimes it’s drumming your heart out, realising you won’t ever leave the hospital. Sometimes it’s letting go of the turtles that have been your only friends because they deserve their freedom. And sometimes, it’s getting that surgery despite your fear of what might happen when you’re in that operating room. This book screams at you to face your fears because the things you will regret most are those you didn’t do. I loved how Wolkenstein managed to present grief in an accessible and almost hopeful manner, reminding readers that though there are hardships in life, there are always going to be people you can count on. Will and his mother experience grief very differently and that makes it hard for the both of them to communicate sometimes. They fight about the little stuff to avoid talking about the bigger issues – a trait Will has definitely inherited since he tends to do the same with his friends Shirah and Max.

Paired with grief, this story also shows what it means to be brave. Will deals with a lot of bullying and self-doubts and can’t seem to get out of his shell even when his friends and Rabbi ask him to. It takes RJ and his no-nonsense attitude for Will to realise how much he has to live for – and that he has to do his best and give life his all.

Beyond the main plot, there are a few special things that make this story fit seamlessly together: one is the devotion and passion Will has for turtles and their safety, especially when their home is being invaded by bulldozers. Will has trouble standing up for himself but he has no qualms making his voice heard when it comes to protecting what he cares about. The other highlight of the story is how much there is to learn about Jewish practices. The inclusion of this cultural heritage and how Will feels about these traditions was such a lovely addition to his journey and let me learn a thing or two myself.

Though there is heartbreak between these pages, there is also hope. At the end of it all, Turtle Boy is about friendship, the ones we don’t see, the ones we should treasure and the ones that will change us irreversibly. A wholesome blend of humour and grief, Will’s story will appeal to younger and older readers alike. A beautiful debut that wears its heart on its sleeve.