Becoming Naomi Leon (book review)

Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan. This is a story about the true meaning of family and friendship.





Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw's life has its downsides. There's her status at school as "nobody special". And her name happens to be a target for teasing. But overall, life at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho is peaceful, with her brother Owen and her Gram. And her soap carvings, one of her greatest talents. That is, until her mom reappears after seven years, stirring up all kinds of excitement.

But her mom isn't at all what Naomi imagines. She's not Volunteer Mom, or Business Mom, or Nursery Mom. Instead Drunken, Mean Mom. And soon she gets the idea in her head that Naomi is going to Las Vegas with her in the summer. And if Naomi isn't ready, something bad is going to happen.

So Naomi, Owen, and Gram take off on a trip beyond their wildest dreams. Naomi has no idea that she is going to live up to her family name... in a way she never could have imagined.

I give this book nine out of ten stars!

The Spring Reading Thing reading challenge...two books down, nineteen to go.

a senryu

by Annie (age 9)

sidewinder slithers
across the smooth, silky sand
breaking golden waves

A Rat's Tale (book review)

A Rat's Tale, a fantasy by Tor Seidler. It's funny and dramatic, yet a bit dull at times, too.

Montague Mad-Rat and Isabel Moberly-Rat are very different. She's upper class and lives in the fanciest wharf a rat could want, Wharf 62. He's a peasant rat whose family is well known for MAKING THINGS WITH THEIR PAWS, which is considered less than lowly in the rat world. Yet by a twist of fate, the two meet by the gutters on a Sunday morning. She falls in, and he happens to rescue her.

When Montague accompanies an elderly rat couple to the Grand Rat Chat, a meeting of rats to speak of important issues, Isabel's father speaks out about how the rats were getting lazy. They lived in peace with the humans as long as the rats provided them with fifty thousand dollars a year. But no money, no mercy. The rats were running out of time. They hadn't collected a single cent and the poisoning had begun.

Montague donated his painted seashell murals to the program, and was humiliated in front of Isabel. The Moberly-Rats thought the art was worthless. All except Isabel. She found a way to turn Montague's shells into one hundred thousand dollars, enough to stop the poisoning for two whole years!

This story is about equal rights and prejudice. Everyone in the society, no matter how wealthy or poor they are, can make a difference.


I give this book seven out of ten stars!

The Spring Reading Thing reading challenge...one book down, twenty to go.

Spring Reading Thing

And for reading challenge #2...the Spring Reading Thing. This one runs concurrently with the Once Upon a Time reading challenge. That is, approximately March 21 through June 21. (And here is where she leaves her poor old mom in the dust!)







1. A Rat's Tale by Tor Seidler (library book)
2. On the Wings of a Dragon by Cora Taylor (library book)
3. Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan (library book)
4. Danger After Dark by Ellie McDonald
5. One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Clive Woodall (re-read)
6. The Naked Mole-Rat Letters by Mary Amato (re-read)
7. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
8. Trixie Belden: The Gatehouse Mystery by Julie Campbell
9. Blue Jasmine by Kashmira Sheth (re-read)
10. The Keys to the Kingdom: Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix
11. Nancy Drew: The Wrong Chemistry by Carolyn Keene
12. Nancy Drew: Out of Bounds by Carolyn Keene
13. Nancy Drew: Flirting with Danger by Carolyn Keene
14. Dear America: The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce-A Pilgrim Boy by Ann Rinaldi
15. Dear America: The Winter of Red Snow-The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart
16. Shiva's Fire by Suzanne Fisher Staples
17. Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo
18. Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo
19. Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo
20. Clara Barton and the American Red Cross by Eve Marko
21. The Little People: Stories of Fairies, Pixies, and Other Small Folk by Neil Philip

Once Upon a Time Reading Challenge

The Once Upon a Time Challenge...the perfect challenge for Miss Annie! Big-time fan of the fantasy genre! And she's promised to post reviews here of all the books from her list.




Annie's list:
1. The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon (library book)
2. The Lord of the Rings-Part Two-The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. The Lord of the Rings-Part Three-The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. Septimus Heap-Book One-Magyk by Angie Sage
5. Children of the Lamp by P.B. Kerr

a limerick

a limerick
by Annie (age 9)

There once was a baby, you know,
Born under a blanket of snow.
Her mother was ice
And therefore not nice,
Though part of Mother Nature's show.

and still another haiku

and still another haiku
by Annie (age 9)

when the sun shines down
on the pretty golden land
life illuminates

yet another haiku

yet another haiku
by Annie (age 9)

when the sun comes out
and sheds its heavenly rays
the snow slinks away

another haiku

another haiku
by Annie (age 9)

sparrow hiding in
the branches and brambles of
the thick green hedgerow

a haiku

a haiku
by Annie (age 9)

rotting milkweed lies
on the ground despairingly
silky flowers fly

Colors of Nature

Colors of Nature
by Annie (age 9)

Rainbow shines across the sky
Glimmering in the mist
Seven colors way up high
Once gone, it will be missed.

Falling leaves swirl round and round
Yellow, orange, brown, and red
Some of them will touch the ground
Some will land upon my head.

Aurora borealis, way up north
Shimmering in the night
Like snakes slithering back and forth
In the sky so bright.

A Thunderstorm

A Thunderstorm
by Annie (age 9)

A storm is raging in the night.
The ground is soft and wet.
The cat is shaking in a fright,
While the mice squeak and fret.

The thunder's deep and rumbling boom,
The lightning's blinding flash,
Makes a confusion in my room.
I'm caught in Nature's fearsome clash.

Wind

Wind
by Annie (age 9)

Sailing through the tops of trees
Gently now, I'm at ease.
I race below a moonlit star
Reminds me of galaxies near and far.
Where they are, I cannot say.
No time to chat, got work today.

I must race around the world
Through trees twisted and leaves twirled.
Though what the reason, I cannot say,
Yes, oh yes, there's work today.

Even though there's work to do,
With a single thrust, I'm there for you.
I swirl around your big tree,
I laugh and howl for your family.
If you dare to try to race me,
I'll leave you in the dust, you see.

I fly, I fly, I fly so free
Cheer and smile and dance with me.
For I'm the wind, no time to play...
Work to do, work today.

Wolf and Mouse

Wolf and Mouse
by Annie (age 9)

Wolf is sleeping in the night
While mouse watches, eyes wide in fright
For he knows he must pass by,
If home is where he wants to lie.
But sleeping wolf opens one eye
As mouse tries to scurry by.
Silent wolf sits in the snow
For what the sound is he must know.
There is no hope for little mouse
Who'll never again see his little house.
He spies wolf with jaws opened wide.
They will not say he never tried.

another spelling story

Annie's homework assignment for today was to write a story using her spelling words for this week. She wrote as if writing the description on a book jacket. I wish I was a fraction as clever as she is!

This week's words:
lambent, blatherskite, wistfully, invertebrate, strategy, pediatrician, excitement, seethe, numerous, prominent, iridescent, cerulean, throughout, leisurely, extraordinary, humorous


This is the story of a rather humorous girl, a friendly pediatrician, and a cerulean invertebrate.

The girl, Ti, and her companion Patty, a prominent pediatrician, embark on a quest to free an important item from an evil blatherskite. The item, The Lambent Orb, an iridescent sphere, was once guarded by the Cerulean Star, an invertebrate. But she has been put to sleep. The duo comes up with a strategy to save the orb. Throughout the not-so-leisurely adventure, the seething blatherskite makes numerous attempts to murder Ti, but always fails. In the end, when the orb is retrieved, he wistfully dies of anger.

"What an extraordinary tale full of excitement!" --The New York Times

Orphan

*by Annie (April 2006, age 8)

I love you,
Yes I do.
If only you loved me.

Yes, if I was a loved one,
I would surely shout "Yippee!"

But I am not,
I'm just a dot

in the background.

The Subterranean Gnome

Just a cute little story Annie wrote for her homework assignment tonight. The assignment was to use each of her spelling words to write a story. (And no, these aren't your typical 3rd grade spelling words. She gets her own individual list.)

The words: isolated, guarantee, chartreuse, cautious, gnome, smorgasbord, subterranean, succinct, pesticide, persnickety, raspberry, nemesis, querulous, rancid, considerable, announcement


The Subterranean Gnome
*by Annie (March 2006, age 8)

Once there was a community of subterranean gnomes. They all were inquisitive, but one in particular was always getting into trouble. I guarantee you, he went on an adventure at least once a week. A considerable amount of these adventures had been dangerous. The most renowned of these journeys was on an isolated island...

It was the Gnometown Annual Meeting. All the gnomes were feasting on a smorgasbord of gnome food while listening to a succinct announcement made by the Gnometown mayor. He was very persnickety about how the new library was to be built. The gnome's siblings were getting awfully querulous during the speech, and Piksnick, the gnome himself, was getting antsy. He edged away from his plate of rancid chartreuse raspberries and darted away. His parents were so engrossed in the speech they didn't even notice.

Dodging the small areas sprayed with pesticide, he zoomed down a small hill, abruptly stopping as he reached a hot spring. A gnome-sized sailboat was right there in front of him. Piksnik hopped into it and paddled away. He sighted a large predatory fish. This was to be his nemesis. Cautiously dodging the fish's jaws, he crash-landed on a small rock, his boat shattering into pieces. Watching with despair as the boat sank, he realized he was stuck on the rock.

Suddenly, a voice shouted out, "Grab the rope." The faint image of a rope appeared in the distance. As it got closer, Piksnik snatched it, and was pulled across the water. As he looked at his rescuer, he realized it was his dad!

Do you think Piksnik was in trouble after he returned? Yes, but that's another story...

Flowers of Spring

by Annie (summer 2005, age 8)

Three types of flowers
gather in the gardens today.
First, the daisy,
wild and free,
petals like a lion's mane.
Second, the rose,
so mysterious, so beautiful,
its fierce thorns protect it in battle.
Third, the dandelion,
lets go of its children early
when the first breeze comes.
Three types of flowers
gather in the gardens today.
Let me hope,
that they will stay.

Spring Inside and Out

*by Annie (April 2005, age 8)

Spring outside is fun and sun,
picking flowers,
light spring showers,
But spring inside is gloomy and gray,
that's not the way to spend
the day...
Especially in Spring!

The Globe

*by Annie (winter 2005, age 7)

Round.
Lots of colors.
All the countries
around the world
in our
hands.