Synopses & Reviews
What do Gaby Lopez, Michael Robles, and Cynthia Rodriguez have in common? These three kids join other teens and tweens in Gary Soto's 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.
Synopsis
Lincoln Mendoza remains loyal to his former schools basketball team, even after he moves from the barrio to the suburbs and plays for his new schools team. “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. . . . Soto masterfully conveys the Hispanic-American experience.”-Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
The fleeting emotions of teenagers, as changeable as the weather, ring true in these emotionally resonant poems. Told from the point of view of both boys and girls, narrators of various ethnicities fall in love for the first time, pine over crushes, and brood over broken hearts. Tender, lighthearted, and surprising, this collection will capture teens, tweens, and anyone who remembers what its like to be a young person in love.
About the Author
"Young teens will enjoy the “love sick” puns and the metaphors, lyrical and sad, that show that there is poetry in the way that they speak."--
Booklist " The free-verse poems all somehow ring true: appropriately corny, rich with image, accessible and believable . . . the simple, open design encourages browsing, and readers flipping through are bound to find the right words when they need them."--
Horn Book "Since many of the narrators are 13 or 14 years old, these short, accessible poems will appeal to middle schoolers, especially. A great addition to poetry collections."--
School Library Journal
Table of Contents
Contents
~ Where Did I Go Wrong? 1 Capturing the Moment 23 Identity Theft 41 You Decide 52 The Babysitter 64 Citizen of the World 85 Wise Uncle Joe 103 Seeing the Future 124 The Ideal City 134 D in English 157 Selected Spanish Words and Phrases 175