Why a Booktrail?
What do you do when you really don’t want to leave your home?
The Turtle of Oman
What you need to know before your trail
Aref Al-Amri has to say goodbye to everything and everyone he loves in his hometown of Muscat, Oman, as his family prepares to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Aref does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Sidi. 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, 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.
Travel Guide
Muscat
A boy who loves his country and who has only lived in one country his short life finds it hard to move all the way to the USA. So before he goes, his grandfather takes him all over the city to appreciate what it has to offer and to allow him to collect memories of what to take with him and what will stay with him for ever.
This is a clever way for the boy to realise what he loves about his life and his homeland and what to take with him to his new one. His grandfather also rediscovers a lot about the country and city of Muscat and their bond is something else strengthened for the journey ahead. The boy looks at the Sultanate and to protect himself from the unsettling changes he’s facing the turtles ways of protecting themselves in the wild.
Some facts from this book:
Sultanate Facts
Oman is the last sultanate on earth besides one another Brunei Darussalam that none of us have ever visited
A Sultanate has a sultan as a rule , not a president or a queen
The Sultan is the boss. You don’t see him very much
Green sea turtles can stay underwater for as long as five hours, without coming up to the surface once.
Their heartbeats slow down dramatically . Sometimes green sea turtles have 9 minutes between heartbeats. You think they are dead but they are only floating.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Turtle of Oman
Author/Guide: Naomi Shihab Nye Destination: Oman, Muscat
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