Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2004. BECOMING NAOMI LEON. New York: Scholastic.
ISBN-10: 0439269970
PLOT SUMMARY
Naomi lives a rather simple life in the Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho with her brother Owen and her Gram. They do not have many possessions but they do have the love from their friends like Fabiola and Bernardo and their next door neighbor Mrs. Maloney. Life seems to be moving along until one night when an unexpected guest shows up at their door. At first the children are unsure of who the guest is. Once they realize that it is their mother they are both shocked and happy. It has been seven long years since she dropped them off with Gram. Thinking this is a new life for them Naomi and her physically challenged brother Owen try to get to know their Mom. They soon learn that she and her boyfriend are not good. Afraid that their mother might fight for custody Gram, Fabiola and Bernardo sneak away in the night to Oaxaca, Mexico in search of the children’s father. In the end they find their long lost father and get the chance to explore their Mexican heritage.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Ryan has done an excellent job painting a picture of a loving non traditional family. Though she includes information on the traditions of Oaxaca, Mexico during the holidays this story is not primarily about Mexican American family. Any reader would be touched by the love Gram has for the children as well as the care and patience she has for Owen and his special needs. The characters are likeable and easy to fall in love with. Your heart breaks when Owen tries so hard to make his Mom like him after being gone for more than seven years. Ryan also does a fine job in her unlikable characters. Clive and Skyla have been written well and are easy to dislike. Overall this is an excellent story for any student in the upper grades who wants to see the love and support of a nontraditional family.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal
Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw lives with younger brother Owen and her fiercely practical Gram in a trailer park in California in this novel by Pam Munoz (Scholastic, 2004). An unpopular fifth grader, she spends lots of time in the library with the other outcasts and the kind librarian. Naomi's talent is carving objects out of soap. After being gone for seven years, her mother shows up one day with a scary boyfriend, Clive. Gram lets the children know that their mother, Terri Lynn, has always been wild and irresponsible. They're worried that she will assert her parental rights and take the children away. Naomi is insecure and particularly susceptible to her mother's attention. Owen is essentially ignored by Terri Lynn because he has some physical deformities, but Clive thinks he could use Owens’s deformities to make money gambling. Gram, the neighbors, and the children go to Oaxaca to find the children's father and get him to sign papers making Gram their guardian. Their dad is thrilled to see them, and Naomi learns that her talent for soap carving is inherited from her father.
Reviews accessed at:
http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Americas-Childrens-Literature-Commended/dp/0439269695/ref=ed_oe_h/102-7454338-7744927
CONNECTIONS
Additional books that would be beneficial on the importance of families.
Ida B: . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World ISBN-10: 0060730269
Esperanza Rising ISBN-10: 043912042X
So Be It ISBN-10: 0064410471
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