When ''naturalist Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson arrive at Turtle Rescue League, they are greeted by hundreds of turtles recovering from injury and illness. Endangered by cars and highways, pollution and poachers, these turtles--with wounds so severe that even veterinarians would have dismissed them as fatal--are given a second chance at life. The League's founders, Natasha and Alexxia, live by one motto: never give up on a turtle. But why turtles? What is it about them that inspires such devotion? . . . Sy turns to these little understood yet endlessly surprising creatures to probe the eternal question: how can we make peace with our time?''