Naomi likes order and predictability: Wednesday night chicken bake, Thursday night pork chops, Wheel of Fortune at 6:30 each evening. Most important, there is solid and predictable love that grounds her life with Gram and her younger brother, Owen. In a compelling story of identity and belonging, 11-year-old Naomi’s sense of order and security is threatened when the mother who abandoned her and Owen seven years before blows back into their lives. Skyla has no desire to reclaim Owen, who has struggled with physical problems much of his life. She only sees his imperfections, not his extraordinary resilience. But she wants Naomi to live with her, although her motives seem motivated more by money than love. Gram and neighbors Fabiola and Bernardo whisk Naomi and Owen to Oaxaca, Mexico, in the hopes of finding the children’s father on La Noche de la Rbanos, Night of the Radishes, the annual carving competition in which he is said to compete. Each chapter of Naomi’s story is titled for a different animal kingdom grouping: e.g., “a paddling of ducks,” “an exaltation of starlings.” On a story level, these titles reflect Naomi’s own passion for organizing and her interest in animals, which she frequently carves. But they also reflect the central theme of belonging as it plays out in the critical question of to whom Naomi belongs. Is it the
great-grandmother who has raised and loved her, the unreliable mother who has suddenly reappeared, or the father she can barely remember and whose gift for carving she shares? As Naomi’s story unfolds, so, too, do many pictures of what a family can be: as tight-knit as Gram, Naomi and Owen or as expansive as the friends and relatives of friends who embrace and support them on their journey. (Ages 9–13)

A reissue of Pam Munoz Ryan's bestselling backlist with a distinctive author treatment and new cover art by Raul Colon.Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw has had a lot to contend with in her young life, her name for one. Then there are her clothes (sewn in polyester by Gram), her difficulty speaking up, and her status at school as "nobody special." But according to Gram, most problems can be overcome with positive thinking. And with Gram and her little brother, Owen, Naomi's life at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho in California is happy and peaceful...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.