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12th out of 21 books
—
8 voters
The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka
by
Cole Alpaugh (Goodreads Author)
The island of East Pukapuka lies in the path of a tsunami that will kill everyone but Butter, a girl more worried about the lives of the injured animals she cares for than her own. Butter is rescued by a Loggerhead Sea Turtle who carries her away on his back. As she and her exhausted savior begin to sink, the girl is plucked out of the sea by Jesus Dobby, the boozy owner o...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
July 1st 2012
by Coffeetown Press
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I reviewed an advanced copy of Mr. Alpaugh's second novel by request of the publisher. The full text follows ~
Lyrical and yet wonderfully warped, if The Lord of the Flies had been written by Kurt Vonnegut, you would have some idea of what to expect from Alpaugh's second novel. Heavily outfitted with
wry humor and cutting sarcasm, this unique tale doesn't pause for a breath. You are swept into The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka with the same energy as the tsumani that sparks the critical events th...more
Lyrical and yet wonderfully warped, if The Lord of the Flies had been written by Kurt Vonnegut, you would have some idea of what to expect from Alpaugh's second novel. Heavily outfitted with
wry humor and cutting sarcasm, this unique tale doesn't pause for a breath. You are swept into The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka with the same energy as the tsumani that sparks the critical events th...more
*Disclaimer: I am Cole's writing partner so I might be sort of biased. ;) But like I said in an earlier review, I would only want the best for a writing partner.*
Alpaugh writes with grace and simplicity when he says, "Bigness swallowed them all." The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka begins with a tsunami headed straight for a beach of hand holding natives, enveloping the reader in quite a ride of suspense, humor and sadness.
When an author writes this well, you may have trouble pulling out of his w...more
Alpaugh writes with grace and simplicity when he says, "Bigness swallowed them all." The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka begins with a tsunami headed straight for a beach of hand holding natives, enveloping the reader in quite a ride of suspense, humor and sadness.
When an author writes this well, you may have trouble pulling out of his w...more
Judge a book by its cover and The Girl From East Pukapuka is what I randomly decide is worth checking out from the New Fiction section at the library. Dr. Dolittle meets Lost? Heck yes!
When a tsumani hits the small island of East Pukapuka’s shore it simultaneously tips the first domino in a hilarious, off-beat chain of events. The sole-survivor of the natural disaster is 10-year-old, Butter, who finds safety on the back of a sea turtle until a salvage boat appears. Halfway around the world Dant...more
When a tsumani hits the small island of East Pukapuka’s shore it simultaneously tips the first domino in a hilarious, off-beat chain of events. The sole-survivor of the natural disaster is 10-year-old, Butter, who finds safety on the back of a sea turtle until a salvage boat appears. Halfway around the world Dant...more
An island lies in the path of a tsunami and only one girl will survive
Her fate is entwined with:
a crazy ski racer who almost dies and wakes up not knowing who he is
two stoner idiots who stumble upon a boat-load (literally) of cocaine
a cannibal named albino paul
a drunken salvage boat pilot named Jesus Dobby
a rescued sea turtle
and a shark god
How can you fail with a cast like that? The chapters are small. The book is easy reading and is one of those books where you keep reading "one more chapter" c...more
Her fate is entwined with:
a crazy ski racer who almost dies and wakes up not knowing who he is
two stoner idiots who stumble upon a boat-load (literally) of cocaine
a cannibal named albino paul
a drunken salvage boat pilot named Jesus Dobby
a rescued sea turtle
and a shark god
How can you fail with a cast like that? The chapters are small. The book is easy reading and is one of those books where you keep reading "one more chapter" c...more
A South Pacific Island is destroyed by a giant wave. A ski racer suffers a terrible crash ten thousand mile away. How are these incidents connected? I first read Alpaugh's Bear in a muddy tutu and was waiting for something new. Our monthly book club had a feild day with that one, in a good way. Alpaugh returns with people even more colorful, and with a form of god that I looked up and was surprised to find has real followers. The world is a funny place and Mr. Alpaugh has an unrivaled way of cap...more
I read this off our new arrival shelf and was late for my day job the next day. It's a different experience I had than from Mr. Alpaugh's first book about the circus. This book is much more hopeful. The pirate character scenes were hilarious. Mr. Alpaugh seems to have a thing for birds and various versions of higher powers. It is a really nice story that began a lot like The Age of Miracles and then took a lot more crazy turns.
So fast paced, I opened this book Tuesday morning, took it to work (and got nothing done!), and didn't turn out my bedside lamp until the last page late that same night. A wonderful cast of characters, from the little island girl trying to find her way home, to the bumbling want-to-be pirates, Ratu and Jope. Brilliantly done!
I felt like I was carried away to the far reaches of the world with this book. It is funny and sad. All the characters are so wonderful, I did not want it to end. May we all be destined for Happa Now. Beautifully written. It reminds me of fables I read as a teen.
An uplifting, hilarious book. This came from a recommendation from another website that compared it to Life of Pi and a Carl Hiaasen novel. So of course I had to check it out. Loved the writer's take on the tooth fairy. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
"The book is playful and comic in its creation of such misunderstandings and coincidences." --Karen Mulvahill
ForeWord Reviews reviewed this book on our website. Read the complete review at www.forewordreviews.com.
ForeWord Reviews reviewed this book on our website. Read the complete review at www.forewordreviews.com.
Crazy, quirky, lovely, I loved Butter's journey back home. Not for the faint of heart reader, by any means. I'd love to see this made into a movie. I had so much fun matching characters to actors who'd play them.
Great writer - takes implausible situations and weaves them together in an unpredictable way, making totally nonsensical stuff make sense. He has a vivid imagination, combined with social commentary and writing style that make him a great read.
Funny and tragic. I think this is a beautifully written story. I read this the same week as Mr. Grossman's The Magicians. What a wonderful few days!
Elements of fantasy and fable in an engaging story of lost cultures, low-lifes, an amnesiac downhill skier, and the after-life.
Strange but good, both charming and ... twisted, I must say. An interesting cast of characters and an imaginative set of intertwining story lines. Definitely kept me pulled in, wondering what else could possibly happen.
This was the first book on my new Kindle Fire. A wonderful story!
Apr 03, 2013
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Goodreads Librari...: Literary award edit need | 3 | 28 | Mar 17, 2013 12:23pm |
Cole Alpaugh began his newspaper career in the early 1980's, at a daily paper on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where he covered everything from bake sales to KKK meetings. He moved on to a paper in Massachusetts to specialize in feature essays, where his stories on a Hispanic youth gang and the life of a Golden Gloves boxer won national awards. His most recent newspaper job was at a large daily in Cen...more
More about Cole Alpaugh...
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Jul 19, 2012 06:35am