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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSNaomi León Outlaw is a quiet, worry-prone fifth grader living with her great-grandmother Gram and her younger brother Owen in a small Airstream trailer called Baby Beluga at a California trailer park. Life is predictable and safe until the night Naomi's mother, Skyla, shows up at the door after a seven-year absence, dragging a garbage bag of belongings and trailing gardenias perfume. Skyla is charming one moment and volatile the next, and she has brought along a controlling boyfriend named Clive who asks uncomfortable questions about Gram's finances. When Skyla's intentions toward Naomi grow threatening and Gram's legal claim to the children turns out to be shakier than anyone hoped, the family is forced to act fast to keep Naomi and Owen together and safe.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Becoming Naomi León
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Becoming Naomi León. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a girl carve animals from bars of Nature's Pure White soap?
✓ Answer
Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Soap carving is the narrator's signature hobby and a way to calm her shaking hands. Bernardo, the neighbor from Oaxaca, started her on this art when she was small, beginning with a bent paper clip as a tool.
- First half
In what book does a small boy quietly let his mother beat him at three games of checkers?
✓ Answer
Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Skyla brags after winning three games, but Gram and Bernardo know Owen has been throwing the games to please his mother. When Skyla forces him to play for real, he wins easily, and she turns nasty.
- First half
In what book does a girl wake up thinking it's an earthquake but the trailer is being towed away?
✓ Answer
Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan
The narrator wakes to walls pitching and vibrating and stumbles down the hall expecting open cupboards and smashed dishes. Instead she finds Gram and Fabiola drinking coffee while Bernardo's truck tows the trailer toward Mexico.
- Second half
In what book does an inn finally open and sing, "Come in, holy pilgrims"?
✓ Answer
Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan
After being turned away at door after door, the procession returns to the inn where it began. A woman's voice welcomes them inside, and Graciela translates the lyric.
- Second half
In what book does a girl carve a lion's mane to crown a radish tree?
✓ Answer
Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Beni honors the narrator by letting her carve the centerpiece. The lion sits atop a giant branch covered with carved animals. The whole design came from her own soap animals, which Beni saw arranged on a jacaranda branch.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl chase a red baseball cap through crowds of festival tourists?
✓ Answer
Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan
After her father appears and then runs away in el zócalo, the narrator dashes after him, dodging balloon sellers and rugs and stopping only when the cap disappears past a vendor.
