Becoming Naomi Leon

Becoming Naomi Leon

Pam Munoz ryan

Published in 2004 by Scholastic Inc.

This book is about a girl and a boy named Naomi and Owen. Naomi is a quiet girl and Owen is her little brother. They both live with her grandmother until their mother shows up and decides that she wants to take Naomi with her to Las Vegas but while she is there, for that little time she is, Naomi and Owen see that she is a bad mother- she drinks alcohol and she slapped her daughter and she is not very nice. She scares her children. She's left them once before and only wants to use Naomi. Naomi, Owen, and their grandmother travel to Mexico to find the children's father and so the judge, who is overlooking this case as to whether or not Naomi should go and live with her mother, will decide that it is best for them both to continue to live with their grandmother. They go to the festival where they carve from radishes and they find the children's father and he sends a letter with them so that they can live with their grandmother and they find out that their father really does still love them and wants to be with them but can't so he will help so that they can live with someone who will love them and care for them. 

I loved this book! It was very well written and I loved all of the characters in it. They were all so different. I hated that mother and I loved Owen and Naomi. They all grew to be the kind of characters that anyone would want to be- strong and confident in themselves. I liked how Naomi never lost track of what she wanted. She stayed strong and never let herself get down but she went through a lot of tough times. 

I don't think that there is anything to warn against in this book. It was really good!