Becoming Naomi Leon

Gram is Naomi and Owens’s great-grandmother who raises them. Her life philosophies and metaphorical language greatly influence Naomi’s voice.

As the novel begins, Gram is happily raising her great-grandchildren. When her granddaughter Terri Lynn returns, Gram must take serious action to establish and maintain the family unit she has carefully built. Since she’s unable to hide her emotions from the children, Gram talks about the secrets she’s kept from them about their parents. Gram’s forthright and honest communication with the children about their mother’s emotional instability and alcoholism help her to maintain their trust and love. As a caregiver, Gram is kind and protective, shielding the children from harm. She rescued them from Skyla’s neglect when they were young and allowed them to grow into their best selves while caring for their mental health.

Gram holds the power of positive thinking in high regard, which heavily influences Owen and Naomi’s personalities. When the journey to Mexico turns Gram into the worried one, readers see Naomi step up and become the determined positive thinking one, signaling that Gram’s teaching has rubbed off on Naomi, too. By the end of the novel, Gram finds that the family and the community she built around the children has kept them safe. Gram lives up to her name by showing that she’s unafraid to take risks, even if she must battle with the law. Her name, Mary, also references the archetype of the Holy Mother, who is a fierce and loving advocate for children.

Naomi’s little brother, Owen, is the smartest kid in second grade and an ace at checkers. He’s one of Naomi’s closest friends. Born with physical birth defects, Owen has had regular surgeries and doctor’s visits to ensure that he remains in perfect health. At the time of the novel, he’s just like any other kid, except for the way he walks and talks. Other kids bully Owen because of his appearance and his coping mechanism of sticking tape to his clothing, but he remains unfazed. In his own clever way, he turns the tables on bullies, getting them to do what he wants by “playing along” with what they think is true about him.

Owen displays a great deal of resilience, mostly through his positive thinking that borders on naivete, which neither Gram nor Naomi believe is completely genuine. His childlike innocence weaves layers of hope into some of the novel’s darkest moments. One of Owen’s favorite things is noticing good omens or participating in good luck rituals, from finding a penny on the ground to seeing the word “bicycle” on a list of weekly spelling words when a bicycle is the one thing he wants most.

Skyla Jones is Naomi and Owen’s mother and the novel’s antagonist. Her arrival sets off a series of events that unravel the characters’ lives and develop the plot toward a positive end. Skyla grapples with alcohol abuse and other mental health issues. Although she fascinates the children and they are eager to please her, she quickly proves that she hasn’t matured at all. Skyla’s character remains stagnant throughout the novel. 

In their short time together, Skyla shows herself to be manipulative, cunning, immature, and mean-spirited. She disrupts the status quo and makes the children feel nervous, anxious, and rejected.

Bernardo and Fabiola Morales, their dog Lulu, and the Outlaw’s neighbor, Mrs. Maloney, live nearby in the same trailer park as the Outlaws. They are like family to the children, and they represent a kind of found extended family for the children. Fabiola and her husband Bernardo are permanent fixtures in the children’s lives. The families are so close that the Outlaw children could get to the Morales trailer “blindfolded” because “[they] had worn a foot trail to Fabiola’s front door” (34). This comes in handy when Skyla attacks the children, and they must flee to safety in the dark. They run to the Morales’s front door without faltering.

Fabiola and Bernardo connect the León Outlaw children with their Mexican heritage. They are from Oaxaca, Mexico, just like the children’s father. Bernardo, Fabiola, and Mrs. Maloney spring into action when Skyla tries to take Naomi to Las Vegas. Within 48 hours, they initiate a plan to take the children to Mexico and find their father. As events unfold, Bernardo, Fabiola, and Mrs. Maloney are shown to have been helping Gram develop a plan of action every step of the way.

When they arrive at Fabiola’s sister’s house, her family welcomes the Outlaws like their own family. They prepare food, visit the market, help the Outlaw children locate their father, while participating in the Christmas holiday festivities. Mrs. Maloney also supports the Outlaws on their trip to Mexico by lending Gram her card table and a set of chairs “in [her] time of need” (151). Naomi’s imagining these pre-planned conversations between adult friends highlights the novel’s messages about family.