3.6 AVERAGE

adventurous hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Juvenile fiction about an 8-year-old preparing to move from Muscat, Oman to Ann Arbor, Michigan with his family. I picked this up as a bedtime book after the one I was reading made me cry, and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of her other books in feel, and it was cool to see some of the same themes tackled for a younger audience. (And I loved the relationship between Aref and his grandfather, as well as how perfectly 8 Aref seemed.) It also reminded me that there are so many countries I know very little about--and I'd like to change that!
adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this book made me happy, it's so sweet and wholesome

Though the story wasn't as dynamic as I hoped it could be, it was a really nice tale of coping with imminent upheaval in a child's life. I particularly liked the grandfather as well as the overall atmosphere of the book. I need to visit Muscat sometime.

Audio note: it was --really weird-- to have the same reader for this as The Shining Girls. It took me a while to really separate this narrative from that of a gruesome serial killer tale.

Not a book for me. Interesting to learn about another culture? Yes. Moving away/homesickness--these are issues that kids can absolutely connect with. But it just wasn't a book for me. Life is too short to waste it on books that aren't for you--I will confess to not reading this in its entirety (I did give it a fair chance--read 100+ pages and read the last couple chapters). Will others like, enjoy, even love this book? I'm sure they will...I just wasn't one of them.
raehink's profile picture

raehink's review

emotional informative lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
adventurous funny sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This isn't a book that will have wide student reader appeal, but that doesn't mean it isn't a beautifully written book.