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Book Reviews of Turtle Moon

Turtle Moon
Turtle Moon
Author: Alice Hoffman
ISBN-13: 9780399137204
ISBN-10: 0399137203
Publication Date: 1992
Pages: 255
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 38

3.7 stars, based on 38 ratings
Publisher: Putnam Pub Group
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

22 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Turtle Moon on + 19 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
A rebellious teen has just moved to Florida with his mom when a woman in his apartment complex is murdered, leaving her baby behind. Keith takes off with the baby, hiding in the swamps, with the murderer, the police, and his mother all searching for him. I loved the evocative writing and the intriguing story line. And I always like to read about teens learning their lessons!
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 174 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Keith hates everything and can't wait to get away. When he does he takes off with a baby, of all things. The town watchdog and a new arrival in town are off after him joining in a funny, touching and exhilarating journey.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I'm a big fan of this author and read this book in one night when I was 14 years old, just reread it at 25, it's still good and some of it made alot more sense now.
LaurieS avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 504 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book centers on a small town in Florida that seems to draw single mom's running from their past. They all know each other in a vague sort of way. They know each other in a superficial way but they keep their secrets to themselves. Until one of them is murdered . .

Lucy's young, troubled son Keith (12 going on 18) turns up missing, along with the murdered woman's baby. This brings her closer to officer Julian who is a bit of an enigma. He believes he's ugly and relates better to his canine companions than to people. If this were written by another author I'd expect the two to track down the missing kids and fall into a blissfull love affair but it's a Hoffmann novel and her stories are more complicated and melancholy.

Keith discovers finds the baby who was the target of a kidnapping and instinctively knows she's in trouble. He decides to hide with her in the nearby wilderness since he was about to run away anyway.

This book, like the others I've read by Hoffmann, focuses more on its offbeat characters than it does it's mystery and that's fine by me. It's bittersweet and doesn't go where you expect it too.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
An Alice Hoffman classic. Full of heroes, regrets, hope and romance, and of course a ghost from someone's past.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 275 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a quick read with well defined characters and a plot full of action. I liked the way the author described things, you could almost imagine you were there.
Ann-True avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A fabulous book, as are all of Alice Hoffman's. I sat down and read it in 2 days, very easy to get into.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This was a good read, Alice Hoffman has some interesting ideas and phrasing. The book kept my interest but it is not in the category of "fabulous"
Bremelo avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Wow! A really great story.
reviewed Turtle Moon on
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful story
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 24 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A great read!
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 53 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful read
joann avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 412 more book reviews
Verity, FL is the home to more divorced women from New York than any other city in Florida. Lucy Rosen now lives there with her son, Keith. She becomes a little friendly with some of the other women in the building and even shares some form of history with some of them.
Keith hates living in Verity. He is consistently in trouble, and Lucy doesn't know what to do about it. One night, there is a murder in the building and Lucy knows that the woman is the one who was always in the laundry room, caring so hard for her infant daughter. Now, Keith and the infant girl are missing.
Lucy comes into contact with Julian Cash and his dogs, Arrow & Loretta. These dogs are so vicious that most people avoid Julian and the dogs. There is a siting of Keith and the infant girl and we go from there.
Well written and a good story.
LaurieS avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 504 more book reviews
This book centers on a small town in Florida that seems to draw single mom's running from their past. They all know each other in a vague sort of way. They know each other in a superficial way but they keep their secrets to themselves. Until one of them is murdered, that is.

Lucy's young, troubled son Keith (12 going on 18) turns up missing, along with the murdered woman's baby. This brings her closer to officer Julian who is a bit of an enigma. He believes he's ugly and relates better to his canine companions than to people. If this were written by another author I'd expect the two to track down the missing kids and fall into a blissfull love affair but it's a Hoffmann novel and her stories are more complicated and melancholy.

Keith discovers finds the baby who was the target of a kidnapping and instinctively knows she's in trouble. He decides to hide with her in the nearby wilderness since he was about to run away anyway.

This book, like the others I've read by Hoffmann, focuses more on its offbeat characters than it does the mystery and that's fine by me. It's bittersweet and doesn't go where you expect it to.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 43 more book reviews
A captivating story that pulls you in and shows you the author's ability to create full, intriguing characters.
kimdep avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 39 more book reviews
I really liked this book. I am a single parent so I could relate to some of the challenges Lucy faces throughout the story. I love Alice Hoffman's way of putting magic and supernatural in the story. It makes you really think about the possibilities and magic possible in everyday life. I really enjoyed the story!
bridget avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 36 more book reviews
This book includes just the right amount of the mystical that Alice Hoffman is great at. I enjoyed this more than Local Girls and Practical Magic.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 29 more book reviews
Alice Hoffman has a way of writing that makes you feel like you know the characters. This story takes place in a town in Florida and deals with people whose lives have not turned out the way they had planned and are now making changes.. Great book
perryfran avatar reviewed Turtle Moon on + 1223 more book reviews
Another compelling and engaging novel from Hoffman. I've read a few of her other works, most recently The Dovekeepers and for the most part I have enjoyed them although I thought The Dovekeepers fell a little flat. Turtle Moon, on the other hand, was very magical and heartwarming and I enjoyed it very much. It tells the story of a group of people who live in Verity, Florida, and what happens to them in a very eventful month of May. It seems that strange and bad things always happen in May in Verity. Julian Cash was born in that month and spent his childhood living in a foster home when his mother abandoned him. He is now a deputy on the police force who not many people want to associate with. Then there is the divorced woman, Lucy Rosen, who leaves New York for Florida along with her now 12-year old disillusioned son, Keith, the meanest boy in Verity. But then a heinous crime occurs and Keith runs off with a motherless baby much to Lucy's perplexity. She takes off on a journey to learn the truth and Julian is there to watch over her. There is also Julian's cousin, Bobby, who died in a car crash and is now an angel residing in the gumbo-limbo trees and who is forever 19.

Hoffman is very good at creating characters that you really can empathize with. She also paints a vivid picture of life in south Florida including the various fauna and flora such as the owls and marlins, snakes, fire ants, strangler figs, and gumbo-limbo trees. I have a few others Hoffman novels on my TBR stacks and will be looking forward to reading more of her.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 628 more book reviews
Well written story of a troubled youth, a murder mystery and a coming of age for a troubled youth. Certainly keeps your interest.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 711 more book reviews
Welcome to Verity---home of more divorced women from New York than any other town in the state of Florida. Where Lucy Rosen has moved to get away from her ex. Where Officer Julian Cash watches over the town with a fierce German shepherd and an even fiercer expression. Where Lucy's son Keith hates everything: the heat, the school, and sometimes his mother. He can't wait to get away. And then de does, when a woman is murdered and her baby is left behind. Keith takes off with the baby. Lucy and Julian take off after him.
reviewed Turtle Moon on + 33 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book; that's why I'm offering it. [Corner missing from back cover.]