The Turtle of Oman

June 2, 2014
Aref Al-Amri doesn’t want to accompany his professor parents on their three-year stint to Ann Arbor, Mich., so he spends his last days in Oman thinking of reasons not to go. Nye (There Is No Difference Now) writes in lyrical prose from a close third-person perspective, poignantly capturing Aref’s impressions of and reflections on the people, places, and experiences he will leave behind, such as the ocean view from his house’s roof, his cat Mish-Mish, and conversations with his beloved grandfather, Sidi: “Words blended together like paint on paper when you brushed a streak of watercolor orange onto a page, blew on it and thin rivers of color spread out, touching other colors to make a new one.” Aref’s handwritten lists of newly learned facts (“Wood turtles are enormous”) or questions he wonders about (“Why can’t Sidi come with us?”) appear throughout, emphasizing his intellect and emotions: “Were eyes little factories that made as many tears as you needed?” While conveying Aref’s ambivalence about leaving home, this tender story also reveals the inner resources that will help him navigate his new environment. Ages 8–12.

Starred review from June 1, 2014
An enthusiastic boy from Oman has serious misgivings about temporarily moving from his homeland to Michigan.For Aref Al-Amri, "Oman was his only, number one, super-duper, authentic, absolutely personal place," but in one week, he and his mother will be joining his father in Ann Arbor for three years. Aref hates saying goodbye to his friends and worries about being a new, foreign kid at an American public school. He hates leaving his house, his room and his rock collection. What about his cat, Mish-Mish? Mostly, Aref dreads leaving his beloved grandfather, Sidi. As he avoids packing his suitcase, Aref savors the familiar sights, sounds and scents of his hometown, Muscat, providing readers with a rich taste of life in contemporary Oman. Only after spending several days in Sidi's reassuring company, exploring favorite desert and seaside haunts, is Aref finally able to "make a little space for bravery inside his fear." Spanning Aref's final week in Oman, this sensitive chronicle perceptively conveys the feelings and fears of a boy about to leave the known and face the unknown.A warm and humorous peek at the profound and mundane details of moving from one country to another-a perfect pick for kids on the move. (Fiction. 8-12)

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June 1, 2014

Gr 3-6-In the last week before his family leaves Oman for a three-year stint in Michigan, Aref has a hard time saying good-bye to his beloved home, particularly his grandfather, Sidi. Readers are never told Aref's exact age; he is clearly articulate, yet excerpts from his notebook show his writing has not transitioned to cursive. Friends come to say goodbye; the suitcase must be packed; and Sidi takes Aref for an overnight camping trip, fishing on the Indian Ocean and memorably, to visit a nesting ground for many kinds of turtles. The language is fresh and lyrical at times, with vivid descriptions of daily life and Aref's obvious anxiety about leaving. Not much happens in the way of plot, but the excellence of the portrayal of the setting and the emotional state of a young boy subject to the loving whims of his parents are vividly captured. "When you drove out in the country, you felt closer to the earth than you felt in the city. You had better thoughts in the country. Your thoughts made falcon moves, dipping and rippling, swooping back into your brain to land." The omniscient narration thus brings a larger context than Aref alone could share. Simply told, yet richly rewarding.-Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library, CO

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