Micro Review 13 (2024)

 

Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins)

I think that it was Kentishbookboy who introduced me to Hannah Gold's work (or possibly his mum) but since reading Last Bear I've made a point of looking out for new books from Gold as a matter of urgency.

Turtle Moon is due out in a few days and I was lucky enough to be approved on NetGalley for an advance copy of this - and I think it might be her best yet.

The publisher blurb reads:

Journey to the heart of the adventure!

Silver Trevelon’s parents aren’t happy. They haven’t been happy since the nursery they decorated started gathering cobwebs, waiting for the baby brother or sister that never came. So when Silver’s dad is invited to paint at a turtle rescue centre in Costa Rica, she hopes it’ll be just the  adventure the family needs.

Under the hot tropical sun, Silver settles into life at the animal centre. She even witnesses a rare  sighting of a leatherback turtle nesting on the beach. But when the turtle’s eggs are stolen, events take a dark and dangerous turn. Can Silver and her new friends track them down before it's too late? It’ll mean journeying into the heart of the jungle and uncovering long-buried secrets.

And this both tells you everything, and nothing about the book! While Gold's last books have featured the plight of far more photogenic species (polar bears and whales) the extinction risk faced by turtles is no less acute even if they are harder to see and less easy to anthropomorphize. 

While it is often necessary to remove adults from a children's book to allow the adventure to happen this book also centres the story on the adults which gives it quite a different feel to many books - and one that I liked a lot. The climactic adventure itself was also (just) within the bounds of reality which was also a delight. Levi Pinfold's illustrations capture the spirit of the book, and the locations perfectly and the book wouldn't be the same without them.

I'm not sure if I am so enamoured with this book because I have been lucy enough to see turtles in the wild or because we got to visit a turtle hospital ourselves earlier this year but I really did think the book was fantastic.

I was also impressed with Gold' bravery in her afterword, and while this may go over the heads of many young readers it certainly gives food for thought and support the adults reading the book too - either as parents or just as fans.