Becoming Naomi León: A quiet life becomes a runaway journey
Pam Muñoz Ryan's inspiration for this book began while reading about Oaxacan wood carving. She says, "I came across a one-line reference to the Night of the Radishes. The event sounded so magical I knew I had to see it. In 1997, on the 100th Anniversary of La Noche de los Rabanos, I visited the romantic and mysterious Oaxaca City, a feast of colors, tastes, pageantry, and festivals. When I began writing Naomi's story and she evolved into a soap carver, my imagination rushed me back to Oaxaca. Or was it Oaxaca's spell that first mesmerized me, and inspired the lioness, Naomi León?

Naomi Soledad León Outlaw has had a lot to contend with in your young life, her name for one. Then there are her clothes (sewn in polyester by Gram), her difficulty speaking up, and her status among her classmates as "nobody special."

But according to Gram's self-prophecies, most problems can be overcome with positive thinking. Luckily, Naomi also has her soap carving, a talent at which she excels. And life at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho in Lemon Tree, California, with Gram and her little brother, Owen, is happy and peaceful. That is, until their mother reappears after seven years of being gone, stirring up all sorts of questions and challenging
Naomi to discover and proclaim who she really is.
Audio Book Becoming Naomi Leon (Listening Library/Random House)

2006 Pura Belpré Honor Book
Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award
International Reading Assoc. Notable Book for a Global Society
American Library Association Notable Book
American Library Association Schneider Award
New York Public Library's Top 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
NECBA’s Top Ten Fall Children’s Books (Northeast Children's Booksellers' Association)
2004 Parents’ Choice Silver Honor
2004 Américas Award Commended Title
Booksense Book of the Year Honor (American Booksellers' Association)
a CCBC Choices 2005
NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts