The Turtle of Michigan

Eight-year-old Aref moves with his parents from Oman to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they will spend three years attending graduate school. New neighbors and a summer art class help him settle in, and he soon makes friends at school. Aref enjoys the city’s food, school decorations, Christmas lights, snow, unfamiliar trees, and turtles he sees while hiking with his family. He also gets to know Hugh, his blind, well-traveled next-door neighbor and a skilled cook. Even as Ann Arbor becomes meaningful to him, Aref misses his grandfather, Sidi, and exchanges emails in hopes of persuading him to visit.