Becoming Naomi Leon
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Published by: Scholastic Inc. 2004
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Multicultural
Age Range: grades 4-5
Becoming Naomi Leon is about a shy little girl named Naomi who lives with her great-grandmother and little brother, Owen, in a small trailer they call Baby Beluga in Lemon Tree, California. Naomi's real name is Naomi Soledad Leon but her Gram added her last name of Outlaw to Naomi and Owen's to make them feel more like a family. In the beginning of the book Naomi's biggest worry is the trouble that some of the boys at school give her about her name but as the book goes on new worries come into her life. Naomi and her brother started living with their Gram when they were very young and can't really remember anything about their parents or their lives with them. When Naomi came to live with Gram she wouldn't talk and they found out that she had selective mutism from her insecurities and other things she may have suffered while living with her mother, and Owen had to have many surgeries to help correct some physical problems that he had. Naomi has few friends in the beginning, she doesn't see herself as one of the "makeup-sleepover girls", but she has adults in her life that love her like her teacher and the librarian, as well as some close neighbors that share her Mexican heritage, they are from the same town in Mexico as Naomi's father. Naomi has trouble voicing what is inside or her and uses art, specifically carving, and her notebook filled with lists to help express what she is thinking and feeling. Within the first few chapters of the book, the children's mother comes back into their lives which is exciting and scary for them. At first she seems promising but they soon find out her flaws and her plan that threatens to break up the little family that Naomi needs so much. In trying to protect Naomi from this, Gram and their neighbors Bernardo and Fabiola, take her and Owen on a trip to Mexico to find their father. In Mexico they find out that their father has always loved them but thought he couldn't see them because of threats made by their mother. Naomi also finds out that her talent for carving is one that runs in the Leon family, she even gets to carve in a festival that her family has carved in for over 100 years, La Noche de los Rabanos. In the end Naomi is reunited with her father and finds the strength to raise her voice and stand up for herself and her brother in order to keep her family together.
I really enjoyed this book. I think that it does a good job of incorporating cultural details without making it seem like they are just stuck in there as a side note. When Naomi makes a new friend at school named Blanca ,who also has Mexican heritage, she learns some Spanish words through her. She also learns Spanish words and customs from Bernardo and Fabiola and their family that she meets down in Mexico. Naomi does not know how to speak Spanish so it comes naturally, that the other characters would teach her and through that the reader will learn as well. Naomi and Owen come from one parent that is white American and one parent that is Mexican and are being raised by their great-grandmother, so in that alone this book is breaking not only racial stereotypes that suggest people should marry within their own race but also stereotypes about family. This book shows that a family does not have to be a mom, dad, and children who all resemble one another. A family can be a group of people who love and care for one another. If Naomi was to draw a picture of her family she would probably draw her Gram, her brother Owen and probably her neighbors Bernardo and Fabiola, and maybe even Mrs. Maloney. She would probably have to use a different color to depict the difference in their skin tones. Naomi has dark hair, skin and eyes and Owen has the opposite but that does not mean that they are not family or that their Gram will love them any differently. Readers are with Naomi as she learns more about her heritage. She really grasps onto the things she finds out about her ancestry and is proud of what her ancestors have accomplished. I really enjoy how the author introduces the reader to new vocabulary and ideas through Naomi's lists that she makes in her notebook. She has her list "Splendid Words" and "Superb Spanish Words". She doesn't just hear these words and then move on, she hears them and recognizes them as new and different and writes them down. Most children when they hear a new word will show some interest, they may ask what it means or may remember it to look it up later. Ryan provides an insider's perspective with this book because she has Mexican heritage as well. This makes me feel like she has a better understanding than an author who has simply researched Mexican culture. She knows what it is like to grow up in the culture that she is presenting to the reader.
This book would be great to use in the classroom to introduce diverse perspectives, and can spur on a bunch of other related activities. Students could make their own splendid word lists to learn new vocabulary, both Spanish and English. To practice this vocabulary the teacher could use the words in a Wheel of Fortune-esque game that the class could play just like the tv show that Gram and Fabiola always watched. For an art classroom it would be great to use this time to learn about Mexican artists and artforms as well as let students try soap carving. Naomi was working on a sculpture in her art class so this would be a good time to learn about three dimensional art forms and what goes along with that. Their are also a few extras in the back of the book that students can use to learn more about what the author used to write the book. I really like how it taught about collective nouns which come from the chapter titles. The author used descriptions of the animals and turned them into collective nouns for the chapter titles which also corresponded with what went on in the chapter. I really liked "a schizophrenia of hawks" and "an unkindness of ravens". In "an unkindness of ravens" Naomi's mom dyes her hair raven brown to match Naomi's dark hair, they also saw in this chapter some of their mothers meaner qualities.
I really enjoyed this book. I think that it does a good job of incorporating cultural details without making it seem like they are just stuck in there as a side note. When Naomi makes a new friend at school named Blanca ,who also has Mexican heritage, she learns some Spanish words through her. She also learns Spanish words and customs from Bernardo and Fabiola and their family that she meets down in Mexico. Naomi does not know how to speak Spanish so it comes naturally, that the other characters would teach her and through that the reader will learn as well. Naomi and Owen come from one parent that is white American and one parent that is Mexican and are being raised by their great-grandmother, so in that alone this book is breaking not only racial stereotypes that suggest people should marry within their own race but also stereotypes about family. This book shows that a family does not have to be a mom, dad, and children who all resemble one another. A family can be a group of people who love and care for one another. If Naomi was to draw a picture of her family she would probably draw her Gram, her brother Owen and probably her neighbors Bernardo and Fabiola, and maybe even Mrs. Maloney. She would probably have to use a different color to depict the difference in their skin tones. Naomi has dark hair, skin and eyes and Owen has the opposite but that does not mean that they are not family or that their Gram will love them any differently. Readers are with Naomi as she learns more about her heritage. She really grasps onto the things she finds out about her ancestry and is proud of what her ancestors have accomplished. I really enjoy how the author introduces the reader to new vocabulary and ideas through Naomi's lists that she makes in her notebook. She has her list "Splendid Words" and "Superb Spanish Words". She doesn't just hear these words and then move on, she hears them and recognizes them as new and different and writes them down. Most children when they hear a new word will show some interest, they may ask what it means or may remember it to look it up later. Ryan provides an insider's perspective with this book because she has Mexican heritage as well. This makes me feel like she has a better understanding than an author who has simply researched Mexican culture. She knows what it is like to grow up in the culture that she is presenting to the reader.
This book would be great to use in the classroom to introduce diverse perspectives, and can spur on a bunch of other related activities. Students could make their own splendid word lists to learn new vocabulary, both Spanish and English. To practice this vocabulary the teacher could use the words in a Wheel of Fortune-esque game that the class could play just like the tv show that Gram and Fabiola always watched. For an art classroom it would be great to use this time to learn about Mexican artists and artforms as well as let students try soap carving. Naomi was working on a sculpture in her art class so this would be a good time to learn about three dimensional art forms and what goes along with that. Their are also a few extras in the back of the book that students can use to learn more about what the author used to write the book. I really like how it taught about collective nouns which come from the chapter titles. The author used descriptions of the animals and turned them into collective nouns for the chapter titles which also corresponded with what went on in the chapter. I really liked "a schizophrenia of hawks" and "an unkindness of ravens". In "an unkindness of ravens" Naomi's mom dyes her hair raven brown to match Naomi's dark hair, they also saw in this chapter some of their mothers meaner qualities.
No comments:
Post a Comment