We the Sea Turtles

by Michelle Kadarusman

Eight beautifully evocative short stories from the pen of Governor General’s Award finalist Michelle Kadarusman On islands around the world―from Manhattan to Phillip Island, Australia, to Komodo Island and beyond―eight children face life-changing moments: escaping a flood; embracing their identity; discovering that the adults in their lives can ease the burden of their eco-anxiety. And although each child couldn’t be more different, one thing connects them all: a turtle swam into each of their lives at a critical moment, and left them changed.  Author Michelle Kadarusman has lived and travelled all around the world, and her elegant writing captures the spirit of the places that have left their mark on her. In We the Sea Turtles , she explores relevant themes like eco-anxiety, natural disaster, and how people ground themselves when they’ve been uprooted. One way, as this collection shows, is to tell ourselves stories: stories that make sense of life.

Genres: Animals, Short Stories

208 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

Michelle Kadarusman is originally from Australia and Indonesia and often shares her cultural background in her work. She is twice-nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award and her work has been translated into Spanish, German, Japanese and Turkish. Her middle-grade novels have earned many nominations and honors, including the Freeman Book Awards, Green Earth Books Awards, USBBY Outstanding International Books and Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature. She lives in Australia and Canada.

Reviews

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of short stories follows different children around the world who encounter sea turtles in some way. Each child is inspired by the turtles to live their life with courage and be true to themselves.

I enjoyed the basic stories, but I got so annoyed with the constant preaching about the environment that I DNF'd the book at page 103. It was even more annoying because some of the things the characters were saying about the environment and pollution and carbon footprints are only theories, not fact. So it was weird that they were talking about climate change, but not giving all the facts.

I also felt that each story was too short to give a full character arc. It felt sort of disappointing to get to know this lovely character and start to care about their thoughts and feelings, and then their story abruptly ends. But that shows that the writing was good enough to get me emotionally involved with the characters. The actual writing is really beautiful and inspiring! I just think the story structure needed more time to develop. Short stories are notoriously difficult to write. It's tough to balance the story arc and character development in a short form.

There is also a disclaimer at the beginning of each story talking about the rights of the native peoples for each area where the stories are set. I was sort of confused by this because most of the stories don't include native people in the story. They all appear to have modern settings, so I'm not sure what purpose the disclaimer was supposed to serve. Oddly, the only story I read which actually had native Indonesian characters was the only story that did NOT have a disclaimer. Apparently, the author thinks that if a fictional story has a setting in any real place that people used to live, you have to acknowledge that people lived there hundreds of years ago. Doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess it's nice to learn about the history of different places in the world. It has no connection to the actual story you read though, so it seems very out of place.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book and the illustration a lot! It’s not just each story, but the educating and inspiring side of each. It teaches and reminds us as we are part of this beautiful world, this beautiful planet, and this wonderful nature. Recycle, restore, rebuild, zero waste, and sustainability.

I love sea turtles, and gets even better when they take us around the world with their mystery, wisdom, freedom, and adventure spirit.

[Candance Doerr-Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A subtle collection of stories that explore stewardship of nature, bodies of water and endangered species like the sea turtles.

I especially appreciate how the young adults are presented as having the power to take care of their own emotions (eco anxiety, grief, guilt, etc) in response to the environmental issues in their lives. They each have different ways they are trying to care for the world and others through their daily actions.

New

[Sophia Christou · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of stories set on a diverse range of islands around the world. The sustainability theme threads itself through all the stories, providing a great educational tool for young readers, while likewise providing funny and relatable anecdotes.

[Mandy Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank You to NetGalley and Pajama Press for this arc. This is my honest review:

The stories in this book are put together beautifully. They’re great life lessons and make you think.
I found the stories very unique which can be hard to find!

Blurb below:

Nine beautifully evocative short stories from the pen of Governor General’s Award finalist Michelle Kadarusman

On islands around the world—from Manhattan to Phillip Island, Australia, to Komodo Island and beyond—nine children face life-changing moments: escaping a flood; embracing their identity; discovering that the adults in their lives can ease the burden of their eco-anxiety. And although each child couldn’t be more different, one thing connects them all: a turtle swam into each of their lives at a critical moment, and left them changed.

Author Michelle Kadarusman has lived and travelled all around the world, and her elegant writing captures the spirit of the places that have left their mark on her. In We the Sea Turtles, she explores relevant themes like eco-anxiety, natural disaster, and how people ground themselves when they’ve been uprooted. One way, as this collection shows, is to tell ourselves stories: stories that make sense of life.

[Kay S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is well written, provides excellent examples of how climate change effects people all over the world, and has a diverse cast. It's incredibly readable and poignant to contemporary life in all parts of the world whether that be escaping floods as a climate refugee to near misses from forest fires in western north america. It's very real.

I did find it suffered from the same issue a lot of middle-grade books suffer from - "those young people!" disease. The author I'm sure means well but portrays a very flat version of modern kids at their worst in the western world - irresponsible, lost without technology, spoiled, rude, etc. (Gordon Korman is a long-time sufferer) Combine that with the preachy-quality of the later stories in the collection make it seem... off.

We can shame regular people into taking actions to combat climate change all we want, but large corporations are the majority of polluters, waste-producers, and general climate destroyers with our measly recycling and reusable straw use making a tiny dent in the world's issues. Putting these issues on kids is awful.

[Laura Byrd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first time I've really read a book of short stories, and it's quite possible they just aren't my thing. I also went into this book expecting something very different - which might have been my bad. I was expecting short stories about pacific islanders, etc. Rather, this is a book of short stories about the environment. I also found it interesting that each of the kids had specific internal and/or personal struggles.

The kids are on islands - many of them visiting islands on which they don't live. I think some of the stories were really good and I would have liked to have seen fuller stories of them. As is, they feel a bit like moral tales with somewhat abrupt endings. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. The stories weren't bad, but they weren't great.

I feel like I would have loved any of theses story lines as full novels or novels, but found them a little challenging as short stories.

[SOYAMRG · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story collection focused on our environment with sea turtles appearing in each story as a central theme.

Each story takes place on a different island with a child encountering something in the environment which has been adversely effected by the change in climate. The land, the sea, animals and yes, sea turtles, all deal with the negative effects created by the change in the climate all over the world. Ultimately, humans feel these effects also. The children learn lessons about the climate, the environment and possible actions they can take to help mitigate the problems.

Children who are sensitive to their environment will find these stories an awakening.

Optional purchase for public and school libraries for readers in upper elementary grades.

M.P.
Retired School Associate

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story collection focused on our environment with sea turtles appearing in each story as a central theme. Each story takes place on a different island with a child encountering something in the environment which has been adversely effected by the change in climate. The land, the sea, animals and yes, sea turtles, all deal with the negative effects created by the change in the climate all over the world. Ultimately, humans feel these effects also. The children learn lessons about the climate, the environment and possible actions they can take to help mitigate the problems. Children who are sensitive to their environment will find these stories an awakening.

[Colleen Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful, touching book by Michelle Kadarusman. These 9 short stories pack a gentle punch. Each one follows a child in a different part of the world as they question, come to terms or face a conflict in their lives. I'm a fan of short stories and love the way Michelle weaves her knowledge of other peoples and cultures into her stories in an authentic way. My school will be using this book for our 'One Book, One School' iniative this year.

[Glenna Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each character in these short stories has some connection to the environment and either realizes, or comes to realize the importance of human action and interaction to preserve the environment. What I liked about the stories was the relatability to each character as well as the hopeful and gentle tone of the message, which lost none of its urgency in the relating.

[Jabiz Raisdana · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories are short, simple and accessible for G6 and G7 students. They focus on themes around conservation and a love of nature. They don't quiet pack the punch I was hoping they would in terms of plot or theme, but they feel empowering and familiar to the middle school student who loves the ocean and lives in South East Asia.

[Michelle Kadarusman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm delighted to introduce WE THE SEA TURTLES my first short story collection for middle grade readers. Nine environmentally themed stories that are linked by turtles who swim through the lives (and pages!) of the young people at the center of each story. Come island hopping with me!

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories from around the world that highlight things that children notice, that they can do, how they deal with ecoanxiety. Some of these stories would be good to read to older elementary students to get t hem thinking about the world around them.

[Lisa Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good variety of stories from kids around the world, all tied together by a turtle.

[Dail Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable book of stories about sea turtles and islands.

[Stacy Moll · Rating 5 out of 5]

The is book is a great collection of short stories all around Sea Turtles. I love the introductions at the beginning of each story. The first book I read from my ALA haul. Well worth your time.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely loved it!