Gary Soto

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.

An original novella from award-winning children's author and poet Gary Soto Jason Rodriguez is a twelve-year-old who never had much luck-until he wins $3,700 in the lottery and becomes an Instant Winner! Jason can't believe he's won the lottery and decides he will use the money to get his crazy Uncle Mike out of jail. That's where the real adventure begins.

A collection of eleven short stories focusing on the everyday adventures of Hispanic young people growing up in Fresno, California.

To get the "ratoncitos," little mice, who have moved into the barrio to come to his house, Chato the cat prepares all kinds of good food: fajitas, frijoles, salsa, enchiladas, and more.

At age thirteen, best friends Ronnie and Joey suddenly feel like chimps--long armed, big eared, and gangly--and when the coach humiliates Joey in front of a girl, he climbs up a tree and refuses to come down.

Prolific writer Gary Soto introduces the beauty of the much neglected literary form, the "proverb." His proverbs are quirky, fun, urban and enlightening for all ages. Some people might consider the literary genre of proverbs to be stodgy or out of date, perhaps pretentious and irrelevant in our techy world. Not so with Meatballs for the People: Proverbs to Chew On. These proverbs are all original, all beckoning for verbal debate and discussion, and...

Gary Soto writes that when he was five "what I knew best was at ground level." In this lively collection of short essays, Soto takes his listener to a ground-level perspective, recreating in vivid detail the sights, sounds, smells, and textures he knew growing up in his Fresno, California, neighborhood. The "things" of his boyhood tie it all together: his Buddha "splotched with gold," the taps of his shoes, and the "engines of sparks that lived beneath...

Chato's friend, Novio Boy, has never had a birthday party. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even know when his birthday is because he's from the pound. So Chato, being the good friend that he is, decides to throw him one - a "pachanga," and everyone is invited - including you!

While helping his father and grandfather work as gardeners in Fresno, California, ten-year-old Rudy sees some differences between his Mexican-American family and the wealthy families that live nearby.

Misunderstanding his wife's instructions, an old man sets out for a party with a door on his back.