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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
The Turtle Of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye is an adorable book that will certainly get good mileage among its intended audience – elementary school children. Read the rest of my review here
Sweet and relatively short story about a young boy in Oman who is nervous to move to America. Some nice lessons about love, family, and the power of our own attitudes. Definitely recommended, and the audio version is wonderful.
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Read for the Book Riot Read Harder 2019 challenge (Children's or middle grade book that has received a diversity award since 2009) since it won the Arab American Book Award for Children's/YA books in 2015.
This is on the younger end of middle grade fiction, so it wasn't necessarily a personal favorite. But I absolutely see the appeal of protagonist Aref, struggling with saying goodbye to Oman, the only home he's known, to go live in the United States for three years while his parents work on earning dual PhDs. Moving away from everything is daunting enough when you stay within the same country, much less pick up to go to a new one. Luckily, Aref is close with his grandfather, Sidi, who takes him to see his favorite things one last time, from the camp they went to years before to the beach where turtles hatch their eggs. Aref's feelings are will resonate with young readers, as will his frenetic energy and swinging moods as the move draws close. The relationship with his grandfather is also incredibly touching. Just a sweet, slow read about all the little things that make home home.
This is on the younger end of middle grade fiction, so it wasn't necessarily a personal favorite. But I absolutely see the appeal of protagonist Aref, struggling with saying goodbye to Oman, the only home he's known, to go live in the United States for three years while his parents work on earning dual PhDs. Moving away from everything is daunting enough when you stay within the same country, much less pick up to go to a new one. Luckily, Aref is close with his grandfather, Sidi, who takes him to see his favorite things one last time, from the camp they went to years before to the beach where turtles hatch their eggs. Aref's feelings are will resonate with young readers, as will his frenetic energy and swinging moods as the move draws close. The relationship with his grandfather is also incredibly touching. Just a sweet, slow read about all the little things that make home home.
Naomi Shibab Nye is a lovely writer, and her anthropology background can be seen in how people and their homelands are brought into her prose. However, The Turtle of Oman was rather dull as far as the story itself.
A young Oman boy, Aref, does not want to leave his home for American, where his parents will be getting their doctorates. The entire story is Aref putting off packing and spending time with Sidi, his grandfather, and saying goodbye to friends and the landscape. Again, it was all written in a lovely way, but it was repetitive and felt like it was just drawing out the inevitable.
A young Oman boy, Aref, does not want to leave his home for American, where his parents will be getting their doctorates. The entire story is Aref putting off packing and spending time with Sidi, his grandfather, and saying goodbye to friends and the landscape. Again, it was all written in a lovely way, but it was repetitive and felt like it was just drawing out the inevitable.
This book had all of the things that I normally love about children's books: whimsey, a charming main character and kind, wise adults. It just didn't quite hit for me. I think it's because Aref is a little too charming(when he wasn’t being a complete brat), a little too insightful. He just didn't strike me a very real--at least in my experience with children. I did, however, LOVE Sidi. I realize I may be in the minority here, and many people will love this book. I just happened to merely like it.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Beautifully written, quiet book about leaving your home and culture to move to a country far away. Focus is on young boy’s last week at home with his grandfather before he leaves for Michigan, where his parent are graduate students. Lovely book with memorable characters that will help young people understand the emotions and challenges of moving to a new home. Learned much about Oman. Recommend for read aloud for seven year olds and up.
I thought this book was going to be about the main character adjusting to life in Michigan. Instead, it was about learning how to leave. Saying goodbye and taking stock of all the wonderful things in your life. Being okay with going because you had a good time and hopefully you are coming back. It was a lovely, wonderful book.
Beautiful. Sentimental. A slow burn. It made me want to visit Oman.
This was terrible! The character speaks everything so formally that it’s hard to believe the story is realistic fiction. The story was overused and had nothing unique about it. Everyone is either whiny or just annoyingly sweet and nice. This was beyond disappointing.