Marilyn,
I am coming to the resolution in Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan, and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. I have not read books from this reading level in a very long time, and I expected a simplistic plot line and theme. I find it to be very rich, with well developed characters. There seemed to be so many small details in the exposition, and I did not trust that Ryan would gather them all together. I was wrong! She has a wonderful attention to detail, and I also like how she does not give much away in her foreshadowing; it is not until after you learn of a new twist to the plot that you see the clues laid out behind you. This would be very rewarding for a strong 4th grader, and it would be equally engaging for an 8th grader with lower reading ability.
I will be finishing up tonight and will offer a more detailed evaluation.
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Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteI posted my comments onto one of your older posts about getting titles for Middle/High School readers.
I too enjoyed Becoming Naomi Leon. I wasn't sure what to expect but Munoz Ryan did keep me engaged as a reader. I wanted to find out more about what was going to become of Naomi and her family. I think the details were needed to explain how Naomi ended up with her great-grandmother and yes they were all tied up and came together well in the end.
Funny how I thought this book was rather predictable. Although Munoz Ryan doesn't give away too much, as an adult reading a book meant for this age level, I could predict what was ahead. I don't think that students in 4th through 6th grade could predict about Naomi going to Mexico or that she would not have to live with her mother but an 8th grader could possibly read between the lines.
I don't know if I would recommend this book to the students in my Spanish classes. It really doesn't discuss much of the Mexican culture other than the soap carving and the festival in Oaxaca, but it is a good book that would keep them reading.
Autobiography of my Dead Brother, unlike Becoming Naomi Leon, was very heavy reading. I felt that Myers gave a lot of detail in the story but it took a while before the details came to a climax and a conclusion. I tried to predict what would happen next, but couldn't until the last couple of chapters when the details seemed to come together. I didn't connect early in the story that the brother Myers refers to in the title was Rise. I imagined it was, but it wasn't until the very end that I was sure.
ReplyDeleteThis story is definitely male centered. The only female characters were Jesse and C.J's mothers Tania the "girlfriend" and White Clara, whose only job in the story was braiding hair. I think that I had a difficult time really getting into the book because the main characters were male.
What did keep me going was the detail in the description of where Jesse lives. As a Native New Yorker I could picture the streets of Harlem where the story takes place. I went to school on Convent Ave. and 135th Street and know how unpredictable the area can be. I remember hearing of drive by shootings on the news almost on a daily basis, that it became common place. A sad reality of the time. If not for my personal connections to the story, I don't know if the students at Suffield Middle or High School would stay interested. It is a violent reality that I'm not sure my students are prepared for.
Marilyn,
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your comments about Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan, Scholastic 2007, I tried very hard not to read it as an adult! I agree with you though, that I knew the mother would be showing up - if only because the exposition seemed to be leading to something and the only glaring item missing from this happy community was a parent.
Its funny what you said about the lack of cultural information on Mexico. I missed that but now that you mention it, yes this would not teach them any more about what Mexico is like. The setting is secondary to the purpose of finding the father. This reminds me of Nancy Farmer's House of Scorpion. The later stages of that novel take place during the festival of the dead (our Halloween) and while it was interesting to connect a Mexican tradition with an American one, it was really only a gimmick to set up a place for the falling action to occur within. It serves much the same purpose in Becoming Naomi Munoz.