”The Turtle of Oman”

By Naomi Shihab Nye. Ages 8 to 12.

Aref and his family are moving from his home in Oman, a country in the Arabian Peninsula, to Ann Arbor, Michigan. That’s 7,283 miles! His parents want to study at a university there for three years.

The boy is so worried and sad that the inside of his head feels “like a lemon, squeezed and sour.”

Have you ever had to move? How did you feel?

Perhaps you can relate to some of Aref’s emotions. He must say so many goodbyes: to his cat, his friends and his amazing rock collection.

But the hardest goodbyes involve his grandfather, named Sidi, and the giant sea turtles at a nearby beach. Turtles are his favorite animals. They leave, but then they always come back to the same beach to lay their eggs.

Mom encourages Aref to start packing and to think about the good things to come, including muffins and snow.

But that doesn’t help. Aref refuses to be a “happiness machine.” What if the American kids make fun of his clothes and accent? What if no one wants to be his friend?

So, with only a few days left (and all of his packing to do), Aref and Sidi take off on their own trip. They visit their favorite spots in Oman. They eat their favorite foods (melon and salty pumpkin seeds), take a boat ride and watch the turtles in the blue-green water.

Will this time together make the goodbyes easier? Aref isn’t sure. Then Sidi tucks something into the boy’s suitcase, a surprise that might truly help.