Becoming Naomi Leon is a book by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Pam Muñoz Ryan

Pam Muñoz Ryan is a Mexican-American author.Muñoz Ryan began writing when she was encouraged by a professor while in graduate school. "It took me a number or years to make that leap of faith," she states when commenting on becoming a full-time writer...

 about a quiet girl living with her great-grandmother and brother Owen. Little do they know that they are about to be taken on a whirlwind journey and a desperate search for her father.

Plot summary

Naomi and Owen's lives are pleasant and quiet at the Avocado Acres in Lemon Tree, California until the day their mother, Skyla, re-appears after seven years. With her arrival, she starts to stir up all sorts of questions. Their Gram tells them the truth. But they really don't know the truth, until the day of the conference where her mom promised to come but she didn't. That day she realized that her mom is really an alcoholic and that her dad really wanted them but their mom didn't let him keep them. The next day was Owen's regular check-up at the doctor's, and Skyla volunteered to take Owen. Skyla suddenly becomes infuriated and tells Naomi that she is going to go with her and Skyla's boyfriend, Clive, to Las Vegas. But Naomi knows that the only reason that they want to take her is because Clive needs a babysitter for his 8-year-old daughter, Sapphire. Naomi and Owen go and tell Gram, and even though Skyla thinks she has the right to take them because she is their mom,Gram tells Skyla that she would fight for the children and the rightful guardianship. Then she takes the kids on a whirl-wind journey accompanied by their neighbors Fabiola and Bernardo Morales to the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. There they go on a quest in which Naomi is determined to find their father, whom Owen and Naomi have not seen in many years. In the end, Naomi finds her father and they promise to visit because he has to stay where he lives in Mexico. With their father's agreement, Gram is granted full guardianship of Naomi and Owen.

Major characters

Naomi Soledad León Outlaw: a quiet girl who has lived with her brother Owen and great-grandmother for most of her life.

Gram: is Naomi's great-grandmother,she raised Naomi and Owen.

Skyla Jones: or "Terri Lynn" is Naomi and Owen's mother who all of a sudden reappeared after seven years absence,she is mostly unhappy except with her boyfriend Clive.

Owen: Naomi's younger brother,he is crippled, causing him to seem "undesirable" in Skyla's eyes. He also has a froggy voice and some disabilities

Santiago Zamora León: Naomi and Owen's dad who has lived in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. At one time, he wanted the children but Skyla would not let him see them.

Minor characters

Clive: Skyla's boyfriend. He is condescending of Naomi's soap

Soap

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

 carving

Carving

- Arts :*Bone carving*Chip carving*Gourd carving or Gourd art*Ice carving or Ice sculpture*Ivory carving*Stone carving**Petroglyph*Vegetable carving*Wood carving- Others :*Data carving and/or file carving, two closely related data recovery techniques...

.

The relatives in Oaxaca: Gram, Naomi, and Owen run away to them and live in their house for a while. In the radish

Radish

The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that was domesticated in Europe, in pre-Roman times. They are grown and consumed throughout the world. Radishes have numerous varieties, varying in size, color and duration of required cultivation time...

-carving contest (based on the real-life Night of the Radishes

Night of the Radishes

The Night of the Radishes is celebrated every year on December 23 and it began in 1897 in the “zócalo” of Oaxaca city. Although it lasts only a few hours, it attracts thousands of people to this plaza each year....

competition), in which some of the relatives participate, Naomi carves the lion.

Fabiola and Bernardo: The neighbors in the trailer park.

Mrs. Maloney: Their eighty-eight-year-old neighbor who goes to bed at six o' clock.

Blanca: Naomi's first school friend.