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Summary
Summary
Gary Soto, an award-winning poet, is renowned for getting at the heart of a young person's everyday life. In these eleven stories, performed with spice and energy by young actors Stephanie Diaz and Miguel Gongora, Soto again scores. With a sensitivity and humor born from his own experiences while growing up in California's Central Valley, the author brings to the surface issues such as success and failure, honesty and deceit, love and friendship. Crooked teeth, ponytailed girls, embarrassing grandfathers, imposter Barbies, annoying brothers, Little League tryouts, and karate lessons weave the colorful fabric of Soto's world. The smart, tough, vulnerable kids in these stories are Latino, but their dreams and desires belong to all of us.
Author Notes
Gary Soto was born April 12, 1952, and raised in Fresno California. He graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended Fresno City College, graduating in 1974 with an English degree. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including The Nation, Plouqhshares, The Iowa Review, Ontario Review and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in Poets in Person. He is one of the youngest poets to appear in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.
Soto has received the Discovery-The Nation Prize, the U.S. Award of the International Poetry Forum, The California Library Association's John and Patricia Beatty Award twice, a Recogniton of Merit from the Claremont Graduate School for Baseball in April, the Silver Medal from The Commonwealth Club of California, and the Tomás Rivera Prize, in addition to fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts twice, and the California Arts Council.
For ITVS, he produced the film The Pool Party, which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal. Soto wrote the libretto for an opera titled Nerd-landia for the The Los Angeles Opera. In 1999 he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He serves as Young People's Ambassador for the California Rural Legal Assistance and the United Farm Workers of America.
Soto is the author of ten poetry collections for adults, with New and Selected Poems a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His recollections Living Up the Street received a Before Columbus Foundation 1985 American Book Award.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Poet Soto ( A Fire in My Hands ) has written 11 contemporary short stories set in the poorer districts of central California. Sprinkled with Spanish expressions and phrases, the collection has a distinct Latino flavor, yet the conflicts and feelings expressed are universal. Whether conveying the joy of receiving a new doll, anxiety over Little League tryouts or the desire to stand above the crowd, Soto's writing is honest and moving. Although the narrative's subtle quality may not appeal to all readers, most will recognize truths revealed through everyday events and will appreciate Soto's ability to crystallize a moment. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Gary Soto is an astute observer of the desires, fears, and foibles of children and teenagers going about the business of daily living. In these eleven vignettes featuring Mexican-American families, the character portrayals are gentle; the tone is quiet and somewhat bittersweet; and respect for family is a consistent value. This illumination of the everyday will strike chords of recognition in readers of all ages. From HORN BOOK 1990, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-9. Like the Latino young people in these 11 short stories, poet Soto grew up in Fresno, California, and he writes with affectionate ease about a world too seldom represented in children's books. He captures the vitality of language and culture and the closeness of community. He's also open about the conflicts of immigration--among generations and within the individual. Several stories will make funny read-alouds: in "Seventh Grade" Victor pretends he can speak French and then tries to bluff his way out by making appropriate French noises ("Frenchie oh wewe gee in September"). "La Bamba" finds Manuel covering his confusion by spouting the latest scientific jargon from magazines, while Gilbert (a polite fifth-grader who does his homework) dreams of being the Karate Kid. Soto's message isn't always upbeat, and he doesn't ignore the sadness of prejudice and self-rejection; for example, Veronica thinks her dark Barbie doll is false and wants the blond, blue-eyed version. Not all the stories are as resonant as these, but the characters are warmly individualized, and they will make young people everywhere smile with wry recognition. --Hazel Rochman
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-- Insightful about the characteristics of early adolescents, Soto tells 11 short stories about everyday problems of growing up. Latinos in central California are the focus of the stories, but the events are typical of young teens anywhere in the United States. The main characters try out for Little League teams, take karate lessons, try to get the attention of the opposite sex, and are embarrassed by their grandparents' behavior. These day-to-day events reveal the sensitivity, humor, and vulnerability of today's young people. The descriptions and dialogue are used to advantage, helping to create and sustain the mood. A glossary of Spanish terms is included. Young readers should easily identify with the situations, emotions, and outcomes presented in these fine short stories. --Janice C. Hayes, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Eleven affectionate glimpses of young people, most of them Hispanic, amid the trials and triumphs of daily life in their California neighborhoods. Coping with small adversities is the common theme here. Veronica's cherished new Barbie doll has lost its head, but she lovingly carries it to bed anyway. Alfonso nervously prepares to go riding with a girl and his bike chain breaks. As Manuel is lip-synching ""La Bamba"" for the talent show, the record sticks. In the title story, Michael and his younger brother Jesse find an alternative when they fail--again--to make Little League. Lupe's shyness melts when she discovers that she can beat anyone, girl or boy, at marbles. Though some of these episodes seem to trail off, their humor is unforced, and the characters (ranging from middle-graders to adults) are drawn with realism and sympathy. Soto salts the natural-sounding dialogue with Spanish words and phrases (a vocabulary list is given at the end), and binds the stories together with webs of close family ties. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.