And I guess
Naomi Shihab Nye is an author who just doesn't do it for me. She doesn't offend me or make me mad or make me think, "how can this chick be published?" No, not at all. I can see why her writing does it for some people. Sure. She is an accomplished, award-winning author and I have only read two of her books, for crying out loud! And none of her poetry, which is her main thing, right!
I liked
The Turtle of Oman. I mean, it was okay. I liked that it was a different take on a kid moving to a new country. Aref, a nice kid and very likable character, is going with his parents to
Ann Arbor, MI for three years while his parents work on their doctorates. He is super sad about leaving
Oman and all that he knows and loves, most especially his grandfather, Siddi, who figures prominently in the book.
The whole book is about Aref's last days in Oman, with his mom. His dad has gone to Ann Arbor to settle in and in a week, they will be joining him. Since Aref's mom is pretty busy and since his time with him is limited, Aref spends most of the week with his grandfather, Siddi. The who are very close. Instead of this being a book about Aref's settling into his new home, the book addresses just his saying goodbye and getting himself prepared for the change. That was neat. It was different and worked well.
It also gave a lot of information about what the country of Oman, without being geography-book-like boring.
