Cover Image

Becoming Naomi León

When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.

Main Author:	Ryan, Pam Muñoz.
Format:	Books Print Book
Language:	English
Published:	New York : Scholastic Press, 2004.
Edition:	1st ed.
Subjects:	Great-grandmothers > Young adult fiction. Brothers and sisters > Young adult fiction. Family > Young adult fiction. Mexican Americans > Young adult fiction. Family problems > Young adult fiction. Mexico > Young adult fiction.

Summary:	When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father. From the Pura Belpre and Jane Addams Peace Award winning author of Esperanza Rising comes a riveting novel about family and identity, drawn from the warmth, wisdom, and love of Pam Munoz Ryan's own Mexican and Oklahoman heritages. Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw has had a lot to contend with in her young life: her name for one thing. Then there are her clothes (sewn of polyester by Gram), her difficulty speaking up, and her status among her classmates as "nobody special." But according to Gram's self-prophecies, most problems can be overcome with positive thinking. Luckily, Naomi also has her soap carving, a talent at which she excels. And life at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho in Lemon Tree, California, with Gram and her little brother, Owen, is happy and peaceful. That is, until their mother reappears after seven years of being gone, stirring up all sorts of questions and challenging Naomi to discover who she really is. Library of Congress Summary. When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
Physical Description:	246 p. ; 22 cm.
ISBN:	0439269695
Author Notes:	Author Pam Muñoz Ryan was born in Bakersfield, California on December 25, 1951. She received a B. A. in child development and a M. A. in education from San Diego State University. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a bilingual Head Start teacher and as an early childhood program administrator. At first, she wrote adult books about child development, but soon switched to writing children's books. She has written over twenty-five picture books, novels, and nonfiction books for young readers. The novel Esperanza Rising, winner of the Pura Belpre Medal, the Jane Addams Peace Award, an ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, and the Americas Award Honor Book, is based on her own grandmother's immigration from Mexico to California. Riding Freedom has also won many awards including the national Willa Cather Award and the California Young Reader Medal. When Marian Sang, a picture book about singer Marian Anderson, won numerous awards including the ALA Sibert Honor and NCTE's Orbis Pictus Award. In 2015 her title Echo made The New York Times Best Seller List. She also won a Kirkus Prize in the children's literature category with her title 'Echo'. (Bowker Author Biography)

Feedback