Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
Such a sweetie! It reminds me of Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming sequence a little. Naomi is a fairly normal little kid but somewhat lacking in spunk. Her little brother has a physical handicap and has apparently been neglected in his early life, because he has adopted some peculiar behaviors for coping with stress. And their dedicated, determined Great Aunt who is raising them--all together, they go on an adventure--a quest, you might say.
The family dynamic is superbly drawn and the faithfulness of friends a lifesaver. It would make a wonderful reading assignment for middle school--it teaches lessons without being preachy. Example: Naomi makes a list of what she knows about Mexico, starting with things like "you can't drink the water." Her list expands as her horizon does, but never does the author interject a know-it-all editorial comment. You just get it.
I followed that up with a couple of GNs:
Fables, Vol. 4: The March Of The Wooden Soldiers
Pretty gory; not a lot of plot. Loved the witch--was Frau Totenkinder her real name or what?
Fables, Vol. 5: The Mean Seasons
Darn it--he ended on a cliffhanger! I'd been about to quit on Fables for a while, but this one left so many plot threads hanging, you can almost call it a continuing story. Of course, they all are, sort-of, but each of the previous four ended on an ending. Blah!
No comments:
Post a Comment