I just finished this one last night.
Ugh, I love books that make me cry. ? But it’s also not that one that you’re crying the entire time either which is nice lol.
Meet Will Levine. The kids at school make fun of him and call him “Turtle Boy” because of his odd chin- it looks like the chin of a turtle. Nobody knows that he actually has a passion for turtles, he has 4 of them back home. He finds out in 5th grade that he has to get an operation on his chin in 2 years. Will starts panicking, he has a legit fear of hospitals. Mostly because when he was four his Dad died in a surgery.
Will in now is 7th grade. However the “turtle boy” chant that starts whenever the mean kids see him has not gone away. The only places Will feels at home is in the Back 40, the woods by their school and at home with his turtles that he secretly took from the Back 40.
He has to fill out his 400 hours form of volunteer work in order to prepare for his Bar Mitzvah, a ceremony apart of the Jewish religion. None of the options he wants to do so Rabbi Harris picks for him: Visiting a sick kid in the hospital. Not Will’s first choice, in fact he’d rather do anything else. He starts visiting RJ, a 16 year old kid who has been sick for 2 years and with a passion for drumming. It starts out rocky but during each one of Will’s visits, he and RJ become better friends and Will enjoys them more and more. Will brings him a secret pet turtle and RJ even taught him drumming!
RJ realizes that he’s not going to get out of the hospital so he asks Will to help him complete his bucket list. This list requires a lot of Will and makes him do things he never would have done himself including going to a punk rock concert, riding a roller coaster, participating in a school dance (even having a slow dance!), etc. All the things RJ wanted to experience he’s now able to through Will’s adventures of completing them.
Eventually, Will’s going to have to face doing the things he absolutely does not want to do. Doing the right thing even when it’s hard, dealing with the truth of his surgery and the Back 40 being threatened to be sold to developers, and the future of his friend, RJ.
Follow along on this heartwarming, emotional, relatable and beautiful tale while Will navigates finding his place, coming out of his shell, and figuring out how to be a good friend.
It ends in a emotional but nice and comforting way and all the while you find yourself rooting for Will and RJ!
Highly recommended, I understand that it might not be for everyone if they’re not prepared for a deep dive. It’s a great reminder to live life to the fullest!
5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
