Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan

Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
I chose this book because it is written by the author I chose to study for this course. I really enjoyed this book, but I thought it did lack somewhat of a climax for the story. This book is basically about a young girl and her brother who are raised by their great-grandmother. I can see a lot of young girls relating to this story because of the life changes Naomi, the main character, goes through and how she develops. The story chronicles Naomi's life and her endless need to write lists down. Whether they be about her favorite words or more sentimental things such as family. Probably the most "turbulent" times in the book are when Naomi's mom comes back into her life (after leaving them with her grandma) and wants to claim the kids back. It is definitely rewarding to see that the great-grandma wins in the end because that is what is best for Naomi and her brother; but at the same time it is hard to see (probably because this happens in real life as well) families split up because of poor life choices. Also another highlight of this story was when the whole family (Great-grandma, Naomi and her brother Owen) and their neighbors take a holiday vacation to Oaxaca, Mexico. Naomi ends up meeting her father whom she hasn't seen since she was a very young child. The experiences and visualizations the author can create in the reader's mind are very vivid and caused me to want to go there and see what Naomi was experiencing too!