The Turtle of Oman: A Novel

In this story there is a kid named Aref who is about to move from Turkey to America. He is worried about what will happen when he leaves, and he does not want to go. Though you do not read directly about him moving into his new house, you do read about him expecting to, and learning to accept it with the help of his friend and grandfather Sidi.

Through reading this book, you can pick up many facts like the fact that a marketplace is called the souk. There are also lists of animal facts, since Aref is really interested in animals—especially turtles. Though learning the facts in it is cool, people with short attention spans might find it a little boring since some other stories are more attention grabbing. Of course this could be just what grabs your attention—I like turtles, too, so I thought it was cool to learn more about them (even though I was disappointed the story wasn’t really about turtles). It’s definitely a good book, but if you are more into action or drama or magic or stuff like that then this most likely is not the book for you.