The Metal Marble

Took a short January vacation to the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman is a beautiful island. The snorkeling is fantastic. But the one thing I had my heart set on seeing was the sea turtle farm. Having just finished writing The Metal Marble, this was a great opportunity for me to see up close and even hold the creatures I’ve just spent the last year writing about.

I have always been a huge turtle buff. Painted turtles, red eared sliders, box turtles and even musk and snapping turtles have been pretty easy for me to get my hands on. But the only time I have seen sea turtles has been behind the glass walls of an aquarium.



The Metal Marble is the story of Tucker and his cousin Trist who find a metal marble floating in the ocean. The metal marble opens with an explosion of green slime. What hatches from the marble is a half real, half robotic wind-up sea turtle.

Upon seeing the turtle Tucker’s Aunt Nyce decides it would make an excellent attraction for her restaurant, The Crab & Grab. She places Tucker in charge of it, giving him orders to set up a tank in the gift shop. Tucker, Trist and Aunt Nyce soon learn that taking care of a wind-up sea turtle proves harder than they ever could imagine.