Becoming Naomi Leon

Listen to me now...

Pam Munoz Ryan tells the story of a young girl named Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw and her brother Owen, who were abandoned by their mother and left in the care of their great-grandmother, "Gram." Naomi is a girl who feels like an outsider, and uses carving as a form of expression and Owen is a physically challenged boy who wears tape as a form of protection and gets bullied. After years of no contact with their mother, she returns and feelings of confusion, excitement, and anxiety fill the minds of Naomi and Owen. After learning of their mother's alcohol addiction, the children realize the intentions of their mother is to take Naomi away and leave Owen behind. Gram quickly decides to take the children to Mexico to find their father for help. Through this ordeal Naomi learns who she really is and finds her voice. This is a common story known to society, it deals with alcoholism, bullying, uncertainty of identity and love. This is a book that once you begin to read, you do not want to put down. This is book is definitely one of my favorites.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Knowing Naomi

Becoming Naomi Leon is a contemporary realistic fiction that is easy for youngers to identify with. Naomi the main character and her bother Owen's live in a pleasant and quiet trailer park with their great grandmother. After missing for seven years their mother, Skyla, re-appears to stir up their lives. Curious about their mother and their past the children start asking all sorts of questions. Their gram tries to ease the questions by answering and telling them the truth. Their mother tries to be a good mother and petition custodial rights but she lets the children down time after time. With this book children can identify in many ways with Naomi. Weather they have some similar problems like the ones Naomi has or the way she is tease at school. I don't read many chapter books but this book kept me interested in every chapter. I kept on reading because I wanted to know how and with whom the children would end up.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing

Becoming Naomi Leon is an amazing tale of a girl trying to stay with her family. The reader feels so heartbroken with all the hardship Naomi, Owen, and their grandmother have to face in order to keep their family together. Naomi realizes the truth about both her parents throughout the book. Her mother is very selfish, which is the exact opposite of what Naomi pictured. Her father loves Naomi and Owen very much but Naomi realizes that he made the right decision in letting her grandmother raise them. This book is great for children in the 5th to 12th grade.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great for teens

The book Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Muñoz Ryan is great book for students from 5th to the 12 grade. This book would fall under the Contemporary Realistic Fiction genre and could be especially appealing and interesting for the Mexican American culture. This book has received the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Childers Book Award. The story is very well put every character seems to play a very important role for the process and conclusion of the story. Naomi and Owen Leon Outlaw the main characters have lived with their great grandmother since they were very young. Their mother a troubled lady had abandoned them because she felt she needed to get on with her life and their father had also been out of the picture for most of their life. After a long time the mother decides to come with intentions of taking Naomi with her. In this journey Naomi, Owen, Gram, and some of the other characters go out of their way to make such a thing impossible. So they travel into Mexico with the hope of finding their father and it is here that Naomi learns more about herself and her Mexican culture. The book is very interesting and somewhat emotional it is amazing and moving to even think how Naomi and Owen have gone through such events in their life. It could be very related and equal with the life of any other child whose parents have split up or gone through a rough patch.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Roarrrrr (loved it!)

While growing up in an unconventional setting, Naomi Leon comes into her own skin while learning about some aspects of her past and the characters of people from it. This young girl's testimony would be a great tool in lifting any one's spirit or self-esteem. Pre-teen years can be particularly difficult for some girls so this book could be used as a guide for them to use while learning to walk through the world with their heads held high, while doing the right thing with confidence!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Becoming Naomi Leon: "A Mouse with a Lioness's Voice"

Naomi Soledad León Outlaw is a very soft-spoken and timid young girl. She is very good at making lists, carving animals out of bars of soap and.worrying. Her greatest worry, for the moment, is her name; the boys in class her love to tease her about her last name, Outlaw. Little did she know, though, that soon, very soon, she would learn about her true Mexican heritage and live up to her name, León, in more ways than one.

I felt I connected with these characters (the good ones: Naomi, Gram, Owen, Fabiola, Bernardo, and Santiago) and I felt very protective over Naomi and Owen. I was always worried whenever Skyla was around, even before she showed her true colors. I could tell what kind of person she was and sided with Gram; I did not think Skyla should have been around those poor children. They had no idea who she was when she dropped in on them out of the blue and she fully expected them to not only know her, but to fulfill her every expectation. Of course any child who longed for a mother for so many years would grasp at any chance to be close to their mother. Naturally, they would not know to be cautious, especially when they had been romanticizing the ideal mother figure and wanting to believe their mother was capable of that idealness. I am glad that in the end, Skyla and Clive did not get their way, but disappointed because I felt they needed further punishment for what they had done, but unfortunately, that is how life goes sometimes.
One of my favorite quotes in Becoming Naomi León is located at the very end: "I had also found my father, who had loved me for a long time without being nearby. How many others were walking around and not even knowing that someone far away cared for them? Imagine all that love floating in the air, waiting to land on someone's life!" (Ryan, p. 245). Ryan makes the reader believe a little girl is telling this tale, and to imagine a young girl speak with such depth and wisdom truly touched my heart. Ryan shows the maturity and wisdom a little girl gains through trials and turmoil. This is one thing I love about this novel - Naomi develops into a confident young lady as she learns of her heritage and matures as she finally confronts the bad in her life, gaining her true voice as the result. This quote is definitely food for thought.

I believe this book is wonderful for older children. Becoming Naomi León could possibly aid as an eye-opener to reality - the fact that life just simply isn't rosy and circumstances such as what Naomi goes through really do happen to some children. I hope children of better home lives than Naomi and Owen are grateful for what they have after reading this.

I absolutely love this book and will soon be reading it again when I have the extra time!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

awesome read!!

This children's chapter book is perfect for young girls or just girls in general! I'm 21 and i could not put this book down!! Becoming Naomi Leon is your average coming of age story about a girl struggling to find her way. The author, Pam Ryan, has a great way of vocalizing the many different trials and tribulations Naomi experiences while growing up and ultimately captures the essence of how she becomes who she is, Naomi Leon.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Highyly Recommended- A Must Read!

Becoming Naomi Leon, by Pam Munoz Ryan, is a fantastic read for all ages. I found the fictional novel to be such an inspirational read, letting readers know that we all have courage and strength deep down inside of us, even when we feel weak and small. The readers find themselves immediately connected with the character Naomi, her strengths, her hopes, and her aspirations. This connectedness keeps the reader from wanting to put down the book and follow and young girl on a journey to discovering herself.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

becoming naomi leon ,by pam munoz leon

Becoming Naomi Leon,by Pam Munoz Ryan entertains the reader with drama and compeling sentences that that put vivid images in your mind.you can can get a compeling image in the next few sentences when skyla slaps Naomi.
skla took to steps across the room ,then siapped me across the check.it was such a hard slapthat my head turned and slapped against my shoulder.this book taught that be proud of your self and speak up for others and others.i recomend this book for people who like charishing family stories that are tradagies and glorious mixed in one.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Becoming Naomi Leon is the story of a young girl who is learning

Becoming Naomi Leon is the story of a young girl who is learning to find her way in the world with the help of her nontraditional family. In this story, Naomi hasn't had the easiest time. She has a brother with physical disabilities, she is constantly worrying, and her secondhand clothes and quiet nature make it difficult for her to find friends at school. Despite all this, she has a supportive family who loves her. In addition to her brother, she lives with her great grandmother in a small trailer in the Avacado Acres Trailer Rancho. Her next door neighbors, Fabiola and Bernardo, also are a part of Naomi's unofficial family.
One day, Naomi's life changes drastically when her mother shows up without warning after a seven year absence. Naoimi's life becomes even more confused when she has to try to balance the life she has with her trailer park family, with the life her mother wants to create for her in Las Vegas. Naomi must go on a journey of self-discovery in order to understand who she really is and the true meaning of family.
This book deals with issues of family, heritage and self-discovery. In Naomi, readers find a quiet protagonist who is easy to relate to. Author Pam Munoz Ryan takes us along on Naomi's journey and gets the reader to really root for the character and her family. Nominated for a Pura Belpre Award, this book also explores Naomi's half Mexican heritage and how she draws strength from her family history and culture. I would strongly recommend this book for and child who is struggling to find themselves or who needs to find balance between two conflicting identities.

Becoming Naomi Leon is a powerful story about a young girl who i

Becoming Naomi Leon is a powerful story about a young girl who is trying to find herself. Her and her brother were abandoned at a young age and dropped off at their great-grandmothers house, who has been caring for them as her own ever since. Naomi isn't exactly the most popular girl in school butt she and her brother Owen were perfectly content living at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho in Lemon Tree, California, with Gram until one day their mother finally returns and sends their world up-side down. After years of wondering what their parents were like Naomi and Owen can't help but be excited that their mother Skyla has come back into their lives and might actually want to be a part of them. Yet this feeling slowly fades as Skyla shows her true colors, this is when the reader learns that all these years away Skyla spent in and out of rehab and half way houses for alcoholism. Skyla is determined to take Naomi with her to Las Vegas where she plans to move with her boyfriend Clive and his daughter and leave Owen, but Gram will not have it. She decides to take Naomi and Owen to Mexico to find their real father, hoping he can help in granting Gram full rights to the kids. Fearing that she will have to leave everything she has come to know and love Naomi searches for her father and at the same time for her identity. This story about a young girl finding out who she really is relates to many people of all ages, it is a compelling story, and an enjoyable read.

This Pura Belpre Honor Book by Pam Munoz Ryan "Becoming Nao

This Pura Belpre Honor Book by Pam Munoz Ryan "Becoming Naomi Leon" is an amazing story about a little girl named Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw and her brother Owen. They live with there grandmother and they call her "Gram". Naomi and Owens mother Terri left them with Gram when they were very little. Terri later changed her name to Skyla. She has an alcohol addiction and their father lives in Mexico and has not had any contact with them. When Skyla returns, she tries to act like nothing had happened as if she hadn't abandoned her children. Gram is very leary of her intentions of coming back. Skyla shows a great deal of interest in Naomi but not Owen. Owen is a special needs child with a very high IQ. Their mother continues to drink but makes tons of excuses for doing so. Naomi loves to carve things out of soap. When they finally find Santiago, which is their father, Naomi learns that he carves things out of wood. She loves the fact that they have something in common. Gram was granted custody of the children and they promised to visit their father every Christmas. This is a very intense and emtional book. It has a wonderful story line. Naomi finally speaks up for herself and Owen realizes that he is different for a reason. He's very smart and he embraces that. These issues that the children deal with throughout the story are everyday issues for a lot of children. Once you start reading, you won't want to stop.

Becoming Naomi Leon is a wonderfully written book about two chil

Becoming Naomi Leon is a wonderfully written book about two children living with their great-grandmother because of events that happened with their parents. They are propelled on an adventure to find their father in México do to their estranged mother walking back into their lives and threatening to disrupt the life that they are accustomed to and love. It is a wonderful book that people of all ages can enjoy reading. It is a book that everyone can enjoy, even if it is read to you. It certainly deserved to be recognized.

Check this out!

The book Becoming Naomi Leon was written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and published by Scholastic Inc. This book is about a girl (Naomi) and her younger brother (Owen) finding their place in their family. Meaning, their parents had children early and when they had Owen things just really fell apart and their parents got a divorce. The outcome of this was the children being raised by their great-grandmother (gram). Even though it has been seven years they have lived with gram with no contact from either of their parents, gram had been doing a great job. She made sure there was food on the table for every meal, they had clothes, went to school, and made sure if they needed any type of help they got it. (For instance, Owen needed to go see a doctor every month.) Then after seven years their mother just showed up at the door and everything became all screwed up. For starters she expected a lot from her children (like knowing who she was as soon as she walked through the door). Also, she expected nothing to be wrong with them. Then she found out that her children were not perfect. She realized this when she went to peel the long piece of scotch tape off of Owen¿s shirt. (The tape gave him a comfort feeling.) Then later on after causing many of problems and disappointments, she really over did it. She went overboard when she brought gram to court, to be allowed to take Naomi with her and her boyfriend and his daughter to live in Las Vegas and leave Owen with gram and wouldn¿t bother either of them again. I liked this book for a few reasons. One is because it was a good reading level for me. Another reason is because the theme of the story was very intriguing and rather easy to fallow. Lastly, I liked this book because I¿m not much of a reader, and it¿s really hard to find a book that interests me, but this book did. It also taught me a lesson I thought I already knew and this book made it clear. It taught me that either if it¿s family or a small part of your family or just one person from your family that just having them is enough to get you through the toughest times. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes an easy read and likes reading about family complications. I recommend this because this entire book revolves around family, so if you like reading about family it is the book for you.

I love this book!

This book is so awesome! I read it the year it came out. I read it again very recently and still loved it. Pam Muñoz Ryan is one of the best authors ever. I hope she writes more books. I was in suspense the whole book-what would happen? I loved it. I really cannot say a bad thing about it. I can even relate to Naomi in a way. It's more of a book for girls ages 8-13. Read it please!

Great Read For Children AND Adults!

This book is a Pura Belpre Award winning chapter book and is a fantastic read! I think this book is great because children living with guardians who are not their biological parents can relate to Naomi because she lives with her great-grandmother. Adults can read it too because it is full of interesting characters (and their hobbies) and the whole story just grabs your attention from the begining. This book made me emotional as well and made me feel for Naomi and the situations she is put through. The situations (which i am not going to spoil) are things some certain children (and adults) can identify with and may help the children (and adults) find that voice that's hidden inside of them just begging to come out just like Naomi.

Great BOOK!

Becoming Naomi Leon, is a Pura Belpre Award winning book. This book is a true page turner; Naomi was a great character to follow along side in her journey to learn about her Family, Culture and Past. Though her life was changing and she was unable to see the outcome, her family was there to help her and her brother, overcome their uncertain future. I love the Great-Grandmother throughout this story, because she was strong, loving and encouraging even though things got quite harry along the way. My favorite thing she would tell Naomi was, "Let's place plenty of sunshine and positive thoughts in our brains". Naomi learns how to deal with and overcome some of her fears and uncertainty along the way. I love her brother Owen and his attitude toward life and even though he is the one with some health issues, he is the one who continually has to remind Naomi to rethink her thinking on life, in some downright FUNNY ways. On her journey, Naomi is able to add friends, family and culture to her life and is able to find the roots she was missing and turn her sad story, into a completely satisfying ending to her journey.

I love it!!!!!!! <3

Please you have to read this book! It is amazing!! I love the format and how it incorperates the spanish language into the book. Pam Munoz Ryan is an amazing author and you should really read her other books.

An Awesome Book

This is an awesome book that makes you want to keep reading until you are done. It is one of the best books I have ever read!

Becoming Naomi Leon Book Review

This is the most boringest book in the entire world. It's so weird.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.