Truman, written by Jean Reidy and illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins, was published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2019.

The inside front cover reads:

Truman the tortoise lives with his Sarah high above the taxis and the trash trucks and the number 11 bus, which travels south. He never worries about the world below … until one day when Sarah straps on a big backpack and does something Truman has never seen before. She boards the bus!

Truman waits for her to return.

He waits.

And waits.

And waits.

And when he can wait no longer, he knows what he must do–even if it seems . . . impossible.

Truman is brave and proud. The adventure has Truman escaping his terrarium and crossing the endless apartment to go find Sarah.

It is a cute story. It has some interesting word choices and some good ideas.

The book also seems to be missing something. The brave and proud part are nice, but they are in the last part of the book and the beats seem off to me.