Becoming Naomi Leon

The first part of the novel opens with a brief prologue titled, “A Rabble of Yesterdays,” which reads like a journal entry. Naomi reflects on her last name, Outlaw, and suggests that in the unfolding story, she will “live up to” her name.

Naomi, Gram, and Owen are spending a typical weeknight together. Naomi Soledad León Outlaw is a fifth-grade girl at Buena Vista Elementary in Lemon Tree, California, right outside San Diego. According to her list of things she is good at, her talents include soap carving, worrying, and making lists. This evening, Naomi sits with her notebook open, chewing on a pencil, and worrying about her name. Boys at school tease her for having the last name Outlaw, and she’s making a list of ways to get them to stop.

Naomi’s younger brother Owen Soledad León Outlaw sits at a table zipping through his homework “like a horse on a tear” (4). Although Owen and Naomi are brother and sister with the same parents, they look almost entirely different. Where Owen is fair-skinned, Naomi is brown. Owen has blond hair. Naomi has dark hair. Naomi attributes their physical differences to Owen’s taking after Gram and their Oklahoma side, while Naomi takes after her father and the Mexican side of the family.