Gary Soto

Maria tries on her mother's wedding ring while helping make tamales for a Christmas family get-together. Panic ensues when hours later, she realizes the ring is missing.

Too Many Tamales

After unexpectedly falling in love with a "nerdy" boy, fourteen-year-old Marisa works to change her life by transferring to another school, altering some of her behavior, and losing weight.

Accidental love

Puppy Love

When nineteen-year-old Eddie drops out of college, he struggles to find a place for himself as a Mexican American living in a violence-infested neighborhood of Fresno, California.

Buried Onions

A collection of eleven short stories focuses on the everyday adventures of Hispanic young people growing up in Fresno, California. Teacher's Guide available. Simultaneous.

Baseball in April and Other Stories

A collection of short stories about Mexican American youth growing up in California's Central Valley.

Petty crimes

Hector and his best friend Mondo enjoy many exciting adventures when they take a six-day bike trip from their East Los Angeles neighborhood to the Santa Monica beach during summer vacation.

Summer on Wheels

A Play

Novio Boy

Seventh Grade

When her parents move away from their close-knit central Chicago neighborhood and thus her dance classes, Marisol--a lively ten-year-old who loves to dance--realizes that she can keep her passion for dancing no matter where she lives.

Marisol

American Girl Today

Attending college in the hope of escaping their difficult home lives, two Mexican-American brothers share ambitious dreams, until the outbreak of the Vietnam War forces them to choose between fighting or returning to their fields of labor. Reprint.

Jesse

Michael J Sandel

Anna Quindlen

Timothy Egan

George Washington

Joseph Bruchac

Pat Conroy

William Sloane Coffin

Mario Cuomo

Ralph Fletcher

Alexandra Stoddard

Nawal Nasrallah

Molly Ivins

Alan Ehrenhalt

Jeremy Lee

Scott Pitoniak

Madge McKeithen

Lori Marie Carlson-Hijuelos

Jacinto Jesús Cardona

Shadi Feddin

Valerie Gribben

Alexandre Hollan

Geeta Kothari

Yuyi Li

Emily Lisker

Kamaal Majeed

Raquel Sentíes

David E. Skaggs

KellyNoel Waldorf

Ying Ying Yu

A chorus of essays from a variety of voices, backgrounds, and experiences, exploring what it means to be human and true to yourself. What does it mean to be yourself? To be born here or somewhere else? To be from one family instead of another? What does it mean to be human? Collected by Lori Carlson-Hijuelos, A Path to the World showcases essays by a vast variety of luminaries—from Gary Soto to Nawal Nasrallah to Ying Ying Yu, from chefs to artists to teens to philosophers to politicians (keep your eyes peeled for a surprise appearance by George Washington)—all of which speak to the common thread of humanity, the desire to be your truest self, and to belong. Contributors include: Lori Marie Carlson-Hijuelos, Joseph Bruchac, Jacinto Jesús Cardona, William Sloane Coffin, Pat Conroy, Mario Cuomo, Timothy Egan, Alan Ehrenhalt, Shadi Feddin, Ralph Fletcher, Valerie Gribben, Alexandre Hollan, Molly Ivins, Geeta Kothari, Jeremy Lee, Yuyi Li, Emily Lisker, Kamaal Majeed, Madge McKeithen, Nawal Nasrallah, Scott Pitoniak, Anna Quindlen, Michael J. Sandel, Raquel Sentíes, David E. Skaggs, Gary Soto, Alexandra Stoddard, KellyNoel Waldorf, George Washington, and Ying Ying Yu.

Becoming You

A Path to the World

In thirteen stories full of wit and energy, Gary Soto illuminates the ordinary lives of young people. Meet Angel, who would rather fork over twenty bucks than have photos of his naked body plastered all over school; Philip, who discovers he has a "mechanical mind," whatever that means; Estela, known as Stinger, who rules Jos 's heart and the racquetball court; and many other kids, all of them with problems as big as only a preteen can make them. Funny, touching, and wholly original, Local News is Gary Soto in top form.

Stories

Local News

Rudy Herrera is surprised and excited when he gets an invitation to a pool party. It's from Tiffany Perez, the richest and most popular girl in school. Rudy's grandmother, "El Shorty," thinks he is going off to shoot pool. His sister, Estela, warns him not to make a fool of himself, or worse, embarass her. Rudy's father teaches him how to make small talk and tells him Tiffany will like him because he's a real person, not a phony. All Rudy cares about is what to wear, what kinds of dives to do, and what to bring Tiffany. When the big day arrives, Rudy is in high spirits. Will he make a big splash at the pool party? From Grandfather "El Shorty" to Little Rudy, the Herreras are a family who not only live and work together, but love and enjoy one another. Gary Soto, poet and storyteller, gives young readers a story of simple pleasures, simply told and simply wonderful.

The Pool Party

What do Gaby Lopez, Michael Robles, and Cynthia Rodriguez have in common? These three kids join other teens and tweens in Gary Soto's new short story collection, in which the hard-knock facts of growing up are captured with humor and poignance. Filled with annoying siblings, difficult parents, and first loves, these stories are a masterful reminder of why adolescence is one of the most frustrating and fascinating times of life.

Facts Of Life

Chato decides to throw a pachanga for his friend, Novio Boy, who has never had a birthday party.

Chato and the Party Animals

Father is a Pillow Tied to a Broom

Revised and Expanded Edition

A Fire in My Hands

Being thirteen is happy, sad, humiliating, surprising, wonderful, awful, exciting, boring -- in other words, full of ups and downs. The thirteen-year-olds in Gary Soto's thirteen stories experience all this and more. In one story, a girl's world is turned upside down when she visits a college campus where she expects to find a rarified atmosphere of intellectual pursuit, only to meet a tour guide who is tattooed, overly pierced, hungover, and not at all focused on academics. In another, two girls test the attraction of their new bodies by flirting with boys at a mall and then find themselves in an uncomfortable and somewhat frightening situation. The stories in this book are about family relationships, friendships, self-worth, and questions of integrity.

Hey 13!

Maya, the flower girl, describes a Mexican American wedding through snapshots of the day's events, beginning with the procession to the altar and ending with her sleeping after the dance.

Gary Soto

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