Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
/"Everyone thinks kids are as sweet as Necco Wafers, but I've lived long enough to know the truth: kids are rotten. The only difference between grown-ups and kids is that grown-ups go to jail for murder. Kids get away with it."
Necco Wafers are a candy that have been around since 1847. They were popular during the Great Depression because they only cost a penny – which most folks could afford. Turtle lives during the Great Depression and when her mama gets a job as a housekeeper for a woman who doesn’t like kids, Turtle is sent to Key West Florida to live with relative she’s never met before. Florida isn’t anything like she thought it would be and before she knows what’s happening, she finds herself coming out of the shell she’s spent her life building.