Books by Gary Soto and Complete Book Reviews

Gary Soto, Author HarperTrophy $11 (160p) ISBN 978-0-06-440771-7
This bleak, claustrophobic novel perfectly captures the cyclical despair of its [19-year-old, Hispanic protagonist], said PW; Soto leaves this bitter street tale unsweetened to the end. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)
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Gary Soto, Author Scholastic $4.99 (0p) ISBN 978-0-590-48446-6
In PW's words, Soto ``once again creates a vibrant tapestry of Chicano American neighborhoods in this... collection of stories highlighting small yet significant moments in the lives of 13 adolescents.'' Ages 12-up. (Aug.)
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Gary Soto, Author Harcourt Children's Books $14 (160p) ISBN 978-0-15-248117-9
Once again, the author of Taking Sides and Pacific Crossing creates a vibrant tapestry of Chicano American neighborhoods in this newest collection of stories highlighting small yet significant moments in the lives of 13 adolescents. Soto's sharp ear
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Gary Soto, Author Harcourt Children's Books $16 (128p) ISBN 978-0-15-205720-6
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
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Gary Soto, Author Harcourt Children's Books $17 (144p) ISBN 978-0-15-284076-1
This touchingly realistic story explores the divided loyalties of a Hispanic basketball player who has recently moved from a poor neighborhood to a more affluent one. Initially, eighth grader Lincoln feels like a traitor when he plays ball for the...
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Gary Soto, Author Chronicle Books $22.95 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8118-0761-6
Soto is one of our most accomplished Mexican-American poets under the age of 45. In this collection, poems from six of his previous 13 books (The Tale of Sunlight; Home Course in Religion) and a sampling of new material define a youth of gritty...
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Gary Soto, Author Arte Publico Press $9.5 (142p) ISBN 978-0-934770-77-4
In these autobiographical essays, which have appeared in Zyzzyva and other journals, poet and American Book Award-winner Soto takes up the big themesmoney and success, love and sex, youth and age et al.with a warm touch and an ingenious technique....
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Gary Soto, Author University Press of New England $16.95 (127p) ISBN 978-0-87451-523-7
Poet Soto ( The Tale of Sunlight ) here offers 39 brief essays about his years from age five to 17 in and around Fresno, Calif. In supple, evocative language he remembers quietly euphoric summer days spent in the shade of fruit trees, when the taps...
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Gary Soto, Author Harcourt Children's Books $17 (168p) ISBN 978-0-15-201658-6
In this sharply honed collection of stories, Mexican American children on the brink of adolescence are testing the waters, trying to find their place in a world ruled by gangs and ""marked with graffiti, boom boxes, lean dogs behind fences....""...
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Gary Soto, Author Harcourt Children's Books $17 (160p) ISBN 978-0-15-201333-2
This bleak, claustrophobic novel perfectly captures the cyclical despair of Eddie, a 19-year-old Hispanic teen in depressed Fresno, Calif. Every time he tries to improve his life--painting house numbers on curbs on the rich side of town, planting...
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Gary Soto, Author Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P $6 (137p) ISBN 978-0-15-205721-3
``Honest and moving,'' said PW about these 11 contemporary short stories, adding that ``Most readers will recognize truths revealed through everyday events and will appreciate Soto's ability to crystallize a moment.'' Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
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Gary Soto, Author Scholastic $13.95 (144p) ISBN 978-0-590-47814-4
In this winning combination of a thriller and a comedy, Hector and his ``carnal'' (Spanish for blood brother), Mando, two realistically represented teens from East L.A., are first excited and then scared when they and Hector's Uncle Julio become the
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Gary Soto, Author Laurel Leaf Library $6.5 (176p) ISBN 978-0-440-21170-9
These 21 pungent narrative recollections explore the vicissitudes of growing up in the barrio. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)
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Gary Soto, Author University of New Mexico Press $19.95 (197p) ISBN 978-0-8263-2185-5
""Poetry is about people who suffer,"" says one of the characters in this compassionate, sharply etched portrait of three dispossessed Oakland men on the margins of American society. The book is arranged into three interconnected stories, opening as
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Gary Soto, Author Laurel Leaf Library $6.5 (160p) ISBN 978-0-440-21024-5
About this collection of 39 sensitive essays and short stories, PW said, ``Soto the realist does not neglect his boyhood mischief, and his sly sense of humor is exercised throughout.'' Ages 12-up. (Sept.)
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Gary Soto, Author . Harcourt $16 (100p) ISBN 978-0-15-206301-6
Teenagers pine for, revel in and recover from early loves and relationships in Soto's (Mercy on These Teenage Chimps ) collection of nearly 80 poems, divided into two sections: “A Girl's Tears, Her Songs” and “A Boy's
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Gary Soto, Author . Harcourt $16 (147p) ISBN 978-0-15-206022-0
Soto (Accidental Love ) offers a send-up of adolescence in this intermittently amusing yet rather repetitious saga narrated by a boy who, on his 13th birthday, "woke up as a chimpanzee." Ronnie suddenly notices that his ears are splayed, his
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Gary Soto. Holiday House, $16.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-8234-2395-8
In 13 candid short stories, Soto (Accidental Love) exposes important, perspective-altering moments in the lives of contemporary 13-year-olds, many with Latino backgrounds, and the spiraling emotions that are synonymous with adolescence. In a moving...
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Gary Soto, Author . Harcourt $16 (179p) ISBN 978-0-15-205497-7
When tough talking 14-year-old Marissa least expects it, she feels an attraction to the most unlikely of boys. An unplanned meeting between Marissa and Rene, a player whose only game is chess, causes sparks to fly. Marissa may start out believing...
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Gary Soto, Author . Harcourt $6.95 (161p) ISBN 978-0-15-205220-1
"Soto pens a sort of Lovely Bones for the young adult set, filled with hope and elegance," said PW . "The author counterbalances difficult ideas with moments of genuine tenderness as well as a provocative lesson about the importance of
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Gary Soto, Author . Harcourt $16 (161p) ISBN 978-0-15-204774-0
Returning to the Mexican-American community which he has made a career of chronicling, Soto (Baseball in April) pens a sort of Lovely Bones for the young adult set: 17-year-old narrator Chuy is murdered on page two, for no good reason, in the...
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Gary Soto, Author . Chronicle $14.95 (67p) ISBN 978-0-8118-4117-7
The prolific and much-honored Soto examines blue-collar work, childhood, unemployment, California cityscapes, and Chicano identity in his very likable 26th book. Soto (Junior College; Who Will Know Us?; etc.) opens his latest collection on a strong...
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Gary Soto, Author, Eric Velasquez, Illustrator Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers $14.99 (80p) ISBN 978-0-385-30665-2
Miata is proud of her family's Mexican heritage. Lately, she has been practicing with her folklorico dance troupe for a performance, and she has even brought her costume to school to show her classmates. But on the Friday before the show Miata...
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Gary Soto, Author, Eric Velasquez, Illustrator Yearling Books $4.5 (144p) ISBN 978-0-440-41432-2
A fifth-grade election at a Latino school in California pits a pair of earnest girls against a pair of clownish boys. Characters from Soto's The Skirt, The Pool Party and Boys at Work reappear here. Ages 8-12. (Dec.)
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Gary Soto, illus. by Rhode Montijo. Putnam, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-24504-6
From growing beards to wearing lucky socks, athletes’ superstitions can be unusual, and that’s certainly true of Luis, a rabbit who scoffs at the traditions his father had when he used to play (such as turning his belt to the side). But skeptical...
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Gary Soto, Author, Joe Cepeda, Illustrator Putnam Publishing Group $15.99 (0p) ISBN 978-0-399-22700-4
A Mexican ditty inspired this buoyant caper about an elderly man who grows ""the hottest of hot chiles"" and raises pigs ""as plump as water balloons,"" but who is not very adept at listening to his wife. Leaving early for a barbecue with the...
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Gary Soto, Author, Chronicle Books, Author Chronicle Books $8.95 (77p) ISBN 978-0-87701-857-5
The first half of this wry, meditative collection brings us through Soto's boyhood and teenage years and his tentatively evolving spiritual and sensual awareness. There is the usual kid's stuff here--shoplifting candy bars, quote is correct/pk ``walk
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Gary Soto, Author, Chronicle Books, Author Chronicle Books $14.95 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8118-0758-6
Soto is one of our most accomplished Mexican-American poets under the age of 45. In this collection, poems from six of his previous 13 books (The Tale of Sunlight; Home Course in Religion) and a sampling of new material define a youth of gritty...
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Gary Soto, Author, Robert Casilla, Illustrator Delacorte Press $13.95 (104p) ISBN 978-0-385-30890-8
As he did in The Skirt , Soto again portrays a working-class Mexican American family. When Rudy Herrera is invited to a pool party by a wealthy classmate, he muses about what it will be like and tries to come up with an appropriate gift for his...
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Gary Soto, Author, Susan Guevara, Illustrator Puffin Books $6.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-14-240032-6
Last seen in Chato's Kitchen, Chato the cat here learns that his best friend has never had a birthday party. Chato plans a pachanga [party] that would be absolutely lo mejor [the best]-if only he had remembered to invite the guest of honor. Ages
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Gary Soto, Author, Susan Guevara, Illustrator Putnam Publishing Group $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-22658-8
Soto (Too Many Tamales) commands a poet's gift for defining characters quickly, densely and, in this case, with hilariously choice words. Paired with Guevara's (The Boardwalk Princess) wickedly funny, urban paints, Soto's story of Chato, a cool, ``lo
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Gary Soto, Author, Susan Guevara, Illustrator, Teresa Mlawer, Translator Puffin Books $7.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-14-240033-3
Last seen in Chato's Kitchen, Chato the cat here learns that his best friend has never had a birthday party. Chato plans a pachanga [party] that would be absolutely lo mejor [the best]-if only he had remembered to invite the guest of honor. Ages
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Gary Soto, Author, Ed Martinez, Illustrator Putnam Publishing Group $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-22146-0
Snow is falling, preparations for a family feast are underway and the air is thick with excitement. Maria is making tamales, kneading the masa and feeling grown-up. All she wants is a chance to wear her mother's diamond ring, which sparkles...
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Gary Soto, Author, David Diaz, Illustrator Harcourt Children's Books $17 (80p) ISBN 978-0-15-256879-5
The Hispanic neighborhood in Soto's 21 poems is brought sharply into focus by the care with which he records images of everyday life: the music of an ice cream vendor's truck, the top of a refrigerator where old bread lies in plastic, dust released...
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Gary Soto, Author, Soto Gary, Author, Eric Velasquez, Illustrator Yearling Books $5.99 (80p) ISBN 978-0-440-40924-3
Described by PW as a ``spunky and imaginative'' heroine, Miata comes up with a clever plan to retrieve her beloved folklorico dance skirt. Ages 7-10. (May)
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Gary Soto, Author, Terry Widener, Illustrator , illus. by Terry Widener. Putnam $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-23420-0
Soto (Too Many Tamales; Baseball in April) sizes up the eponymous adage just right in this picture-book peek at a large Mexican-American family. As the youngest son in a household of growing kids, Rigo often gets stuck wearing frayed and ill-fitting
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Gary Soto, Author, Pamela Paparone, Illustrator , illus. by Pam Paparone. Putnam $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-23220-6
This vivacious introduction to ranfla (lowrider) culture takes readers on a ride to the barrio. Teresa, who is old enough to be "embarrassed by her trike," gets a fabulous birthday present from her beloved Abuelito Benny: a bright green,...
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Gary Soto, Author, Miguel Gongola, Read by, Stephanie Diaz, Read by Audio Bookshelf $18.95 (0p) ISBN 978-1-883332-41-9
Diaz and Gongora give Soto's heartfelt collection just the right spark of Latino flavor in this sharp audio production. From Jesse, a nine-year-old struggling to improve his baseball skills in ""Baseball in April"" to Veronica, who is crushed when...
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Gary Soto, Author, Stephanie Garcia, Illustrator Putnam Publishing Group $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-22808-7
Photographs of shadowboxes filled with sculpted clay figures form the eye-catching art for Soto's ""diary"" of Maya, a flower girl. The text, sprinkled with Spanish words, is eloquent and funny (a bride's hands are ""soft as doves""; a cousin...
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Gary Soto, Author, Regan Dunnick, Illustrator Putnam Publishing Group $14.99 (64p) ISBN 978-0-399-23615-0
Gary Soto explores a friendship forged at birth and the adolescent growing pains of two middle school boys in Body Parts in Rebellion: Hanging Out with Fernie and Me, illus. by Regan Dunnick. From sports tryouts to teacher trouble to memories of
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Book Wish Foundation. Putnam, $17.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-399-25454-3
Short stories that revolve around wishes form this volume created to raise money for Book Wish Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to build libraries for Darfur refugees living in Chad. Mixing poems, stories, and even a comic, the book...
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Edited by Lori Marie Carlson-Hijuelos. Atheneum, $18.99 (128p) ISBN 978-1-4814-1975-8
Carlson-Hijuelos (Voices in First Person) ambitiously brings together 30 creators—including poet Jacinto Jesús Cardona, humanitarian Kamaal Majeed, and philosopher Alexandra Stoddard, among others—to detail their experiences navigating the “difficult
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Gary Soto. Clarion, $18.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-06-326778-7
Thirteen-year-old Jordan Mendoza thinks his height will give him an advantage while playing on his school’s basketball team, until he misses a game-winning shot in front of the entire gym, including his crush Sierra. While hanging out near a local...
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