A Mother Who Doesn't Deserve or Want To Be One

Title: "Becoming Naomi Leon"
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc., 2004
Genre: Multi-cultural Novel
Grade: 4-5

This book begins with Naomi Outlaw, a fifth grade girl who is made fun of for her last name. She is teased by everyone at school because they ask her if she had stolen anything today? Naomi and Owen live with their great-grandmother, Gram, because their real mother had left them with Gram seven years ago. Then one day their world was turned upside down when their mother, Skyla, shows up on ther doorstep. Skyla thinks that she has every right to be their mother and do motherly things like go to their parent teacher conferences. Naomi had arranged for her new friend Blanca's mother to meet Skyla but Skyla never shows. Skyla wants to take Naomi with her and her boyfriend, Clive, to Las Vegas, but Naomi insists she is not going anywhere without Gram and Owen. Gram then takes Owen and Naomi to Mexico to try and find their father so he can write a recommendation for the children to be left with Gram. When they find him, there is an instant connection. When they leave Mexico, Santiago, their father, says he would love to see the kids over the summer if Gram would allow it. When they get back to Lemon Tree, California they go to court to see if Gram or Skyla will get custody. Gram ends up getting custody because Naomi tells the truth about Skyla and the beer and slapping her.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a great multicultural book about Mexican-Americans. I liked how it included cultural markers throughout the book. The Night of the Radishes was something that a lot of families did because it had been something that generations upon generations had done. Bunuelos are a traditional Western dish that is served at the Night of the Radishes. The family being as close as they were was another thing that played a role in Mexican culture. I think that the author does present an insider's perspective. The Author's Note in the back says that Ryan has background in the Mexican culture. It also says that she went to the Night of the Radishes to experience what that would really be like. I thought this book reminded me a lot of Opal in "Because of Winn Dixie" because of the way they both lived in trailer parks but had no one their age living there with them. Neither had a mother in their lives, however Naomi had a great-grandmother who was her mother figure. Opal and Naomi both had older influences on their lives because they hung out with the older people in their lives. There were also superstitions in both books. Opal became friends with the older lady who had bottles hanging from her tree to keep the bad thing away, while Gram had all these superstitions about writing down things they really wanted to come true. I couldn't believe how their mother acted though. There is no way that she was even fit to be a mother because she didn't even want Owen because he had all these problems and the only reason she wanted Naomi was to babysit Sapphire.

I would definitely use this book in an older elementary to middle school aged classroom. I would have my students to keep a journal much like Naomi's. They could make lists of "Splendid Words" and things that they know about certain things. They could also pick a place they would like to go and write in their journal about that trip to, from, and while they were there.