Gary Soto

After saving a drowning puppy while dealing with a huge crush on his classmate Sierra, thirteen-year-old Jordan Mendoza nurses the abandoned puppy back to health and wonders who threw her into the canal and if there are more puppies needing rescue.

"Fresh and satisfying. . . Distinctly seasoned with the sights and sounds of East Los Angeles; the sprinkling of Spanish words and phrases adds the perfect flavor." -Horn Book "Chato can't believe his luck. Not only is he the coolest low-riding cat in East L.A., but his brand-new neighbors are the plumpest, juciest, tastiest-looking family of mice to move into the barrio in a long time. So Chato and his best friend, Novio Boy, get out the pots and...

Gary Soto's Too Many Tamales earned critical acclaim from Parents' Choice and Booklist magazines. This endearing story stars Maria, a young girl who is now old enough to help her mother make the traditional Christmas tamales. While kneading the masa, she spots her mom's precious ring lying on the table. Just to see what it feels like, she slips it on and continues her work. The real trouble begins later when she notices the ring is missing. Could...

Poet Gary Soto captures the voices of young people as they venture toward their first kiss, brood over bruised hearts, and feel the thrill of first love.

On his thirteenth birthday, Ronnie woke up feeling like a chimp-all long armed, big eared, and gangly. He's been muddling through each gawky day since. Now his best friend, Joey, has turned thirteen, too-and after Joey humiliates himself in front of a cute girl, he climbs a tree and refuses to come down. So Ronnie sets out to woo the girl on Joey's behalf. After all, teenage chimps have to stick together. Acclaimed author Gary Soto tells a fun and...

Expanded from the award-winning Chicano poet's 1977 original, this poetry collection explores the hardships and joys of migrant workers in California. A timely new edition of a pioneering work in Latino literature, National Book Award—nominee Gary Soto's first collection (originally published in 1977) draws on California's fertile San Joaquin Valley, the people, the place, and the hard agricultural work done there by immigrants. In these poems,...

In his engaging new collection, National Book Award finalist Gary Soto creates poems that each begin with a line from Shakespeare and then continue in Soto's fresh and accessible verse. Drawing on moments from the sonnets, Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and others, Soto illuminates aspects of the source material while taking his poems in directions of their own, strategically employing the color of "thee" and "thine,"...

To get away from his chaotic, often violent parents, 17-year-old Jesse has moved into an apartment with his brother. They are both taking community college courses in Fresno. But to pay for them, they must take whatever jobs they can find, even backbreaking field work. The path to a good education isn't going to be an easy one for these two young Mexican-Americans. As Jesse absorbs information in his classes, he learns harsher lessons from the people...

This sequel to Chato's Kitchen is truly a cause for celebration! Chato-the coolest cat in the barrio-loves to party. So when he learns that Novio Boy has never had a birthday party, Chato decides to throw him a surprise pachanga. He gets right to work-inviting everyone in the neighborhood, cooking up a feast, arranging for music and a pinata, and even ordering a special cake. Chato's sure that he's thought of everything. But when it comes time for...

This sequel to Chato's Kitchen is truly a cause for celebration! Chato-the coolest cat in the barrio-loves to party. So when he learns that Novio Boy has never had a birthday party, Chato decides to throw him a surprise pachanga. He gets right to work-inviting everyone in the neighborhood, cooking up a feast, arranging for music and a pinata, and even ordering a special cake. Chato's sure that he's thought of everything. But when it comes time for...