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ALA Notable Book: A "warm and humorous" novel of a boy's much-dreaded move from the Middle East to Michigan with his parents (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Aref Al-Amri does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Sidi. He does not want to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents will go to graduate school. His mother is desperate for him to pack his suitcase, but he refuses. Finally, she calls Sidi for help. But rather than pack, Aref and Sidi go on a series of adventures. They visit the camp of a thousand stars deep in the desert, they sleep on Sidi's roof, they fish in the Gulf of Oman and dream about going to India, and they travel to the nature reserve to watch the sea turtles. At each stop, Sidi finds a small stone that he later slips into Aref's suitcase—mementos of home. Acclaimed poet and National Book Award finalist Naomi Shihab Nye's warmth, attention to detail, and belief in the power of empathy and connection shines from every page of this story following Aref Al-Amri as he says goodbye to Muscat, Oman and prepares for a journey to an unfamiliar world. "Richly rewarding." —School Library Journal "Deeply moving." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Nye's story about the special bond between a boy and his grandfather and their mutual love for their country is somehow both quiet and exhilarating." —Horn Book (starred review) A Winner of the Middle East Book Award Includes bonus material from the author and art by Betsy Peterschmidt
ALA Notable Book: A "warm and humorous" novel of a boy's much-dreaded move from the Middle East to Michigan with his parents (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Aref Al-Amri does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Sidi. He does not want to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents will go to graduate school. His mother is desperate for him to pack his suitcase, but he refuses. Finally, she calls Sidi for help. But rather than pack, Aref and Sidi go on a series of adventures. They visit the camp of a thousand stars deep in the desert, they sleep on Sidi's roof, they fish in the Gulf of Oman and dream about going to India, and they travel to the nature reserve to watch the sea turtles. At each stop, Sidi finds a small stone that he later slips into Aref's suitcase—mementos of home. Acclaimed poet and National Book Award finalist Naomi Shihab Nye's warmth, attention to detail, and belief in the power of empathy and connection shines from every page of this story following Aref Al-Amri as he says goodbye to Muscat, Oman and prepares for a journey to an unfamiliar world. "Richly rewarding." —School Library Journal "Deeply moving." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Nye's story about the special bond between a boy and his grandfather and their mutual love for their country is somehow both quiet and exhilarating." —Horn Book (starred review) A Winner of the Middle East Book Award Includes bonus material from the author and art by Betsy Peterschmidt
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Naomi Shihab Nye was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was a Palestinian refugee and her mother an American of German and Swiss descent, and she spent her adolescence in both Jerusalem and San Antonio, Texas. She earned her BA from Trinity University in San Antonio. Naomi Shihab Nye describes herself as a "wandering poet." She has spent more than forty years traveling the country and the world, leading writing workshops and inspiring students of all ages.
Naomi Shihab Nye is the author and/or editor of more than thirty books. Her books of poetry for adults and young people include 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East (a finalist for the National Book Award); A Maze Me: Poems for Girls; Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners; Honeybee (winner of the Arab American Book Award); Cast Away: Poems of Our Time (one of the Washington Post's best books of 2020); Come with Me: Poems for a Journey; and Everything ComesNext: Collected and New Poems. Her other volumes of poetry include Red Suitcase; Words Under the Words; Fuel; Transfer; You & Yours; Mint Snowball; and The Tiny Journalist. Her collections of essays include Never in a Hurry and I'll Ask You Three Times, Are You Okay?: Tales of Driving and Being Driven.
Naomi Shihab Nye has edited nine acclaimed poetry anthologies, including This Same Sky: Poems fromAround the World; The Space Between Our Footsteps: Poems from the Middle East; Time You Let Me In: 25 Poets Under 25; and What Have You Lost? Her picture books include Sitti's Secrets, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, and her acclaimed fiction includes Habibi; The Turtle of Oman (winner of the Middle East Book Award) and its sequel, The Turtle of Michigan (honorable mention for the Arab American Book Award).
Naomi Shihab Nye has been a Lannan Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Witter Bynner Fellow (Library of Congress). She has received a Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets, the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, four Pushcart Prizes, the Robert Creeley Award, and "The Betty," from Poets House, for service to poetry, and numerous honors for her children's literature, including two Jane Addams Children's Book Awards. In 2011 Nye won the Golden Rose Award given by the New England Poetry Club, the oldest poetry-reading series in the country. Her work has been presented on National Public Radio on A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac. She has been featured on two PBS poetry specials, including The Language of Life withBill Moyers, and she also appeared on NOW with Bill Moyers. She has been affiliated with the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin for twenty years and served as poetry editor at the Texas Observer for twenty years. In 2019–20 she was the poetry editor for the New York Times Magazine. She is Chancellor Emeritus for the Academy of American Poets and laureate of the 2013 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature, and in 2017 the American Library Association presented Naomi Shihab Nye with the 2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award. In 2018 the Texas Institute of Letters named her the winner of the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement. She was named the 2019–21 Young People's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. In 2020 she was awarded the Ivan Sandrof Award for Lif...
Reviews-
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)
COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 1, 2014 Aref and his mother are soon leaving their home in Muscat, Oman, to join his father in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they'll live for three years while his parents attend graduate school. Though unhappy about the move, Aref is thrilled to spend his last few days in Oman going on adventures with Sidi, his grandfather. The two camp in the desert and watch the flight of a trained falcon; Sidi reminds Aref that, like the falcon, he will "fly away and come back." They visit the nesting grounds of giant sea turtles, who carry their homes with them, swim far, and return "safely to the beach they remembered"; and when Aref catches a fish, he imagines the fish's relief as he returns it to the water, "where it slid home." At week's end, when Aref notes that butterflies can migrate hundreds of miles, Sidi replies, "[It's] a popular activity. Going away and coming back." Though Aref is now ready to say goodbye, readers may at this point feel quite attached to Oman, so affectionately portrayed in descriptions replete with colorful sights ("the giant turquoise Arabian Sea"), mouth-watering tastes ("curried vegetables and mounds of very fragrant rice"), and friendly interactions with fellow countrymen. Nye's story about the special bond between a boy and his grandfather and their mutual love for their country is somehow both quiet and exhilarating. jennifer m. brabander
(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Horn Book (starred review)
"Nye's story about the special bond between a boy and his grandfather and their mutual love for their country is somehow both quiet and exhilarating." — Horn Book (starred review)
"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." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Magical . . .Will deeply touch young readers who have also moved between countries—and it will enlighten their new friends." — Booklist
"Nye's elegant but accessible tale—a love letter to Oman, a touching portrayal of a boy and his grandfather, and a poignant look at how we experience change—is deeply moving." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
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Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
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