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.

Eddie's father, two uncles, and best friend are all dead, and it's a struggle for him not to end up the same way. Violence makes Fresno wallow in tears, as if a huge onion were buried beneath the city. Making an effort to walk a straight line despite constant temptations and frustrations, Eddie searches for answers--and discovers that his closest friends may actually be his worst enemies." Includes a reader's guide and a glossary of Spanish words and phrases."

Ninth grader Rudy has a date with eleventh grader Patricia. Now he has to come up with the money, the poise, and the conversation to carry it off. This one-act play, by turns heartwarming and heart-wrenching, follows Rudy from his desperate search for guidance through the hilarious date itself--all the way to its happy conclusion. "Includes a glossary of Spanish phrases."

In Japan for the summer to practice the martial art of "kempo, "Lincoln sometimes feels like little more than a brown boy in a white "gi." Yet with the help of his Japanese brother, Mitsuo, Lincoln sees that people everywhere, whether friend or "kempo "opponent, share passions much like his own--for baseball, family traditions, and new friendships.

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 Some people might consider the literary genre of proverbs to be stodgy or out of date, perhaps pretentious and irrelevant in our techy world.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 addictive in that it's impossible to read just one. The nearly even hundred proverbs are discussion starters and could be a favorite work among book groups. They are enjoyable fodder not only for laughter, but for possible enlightenment. The title alone-Meatballs for the People-suggests substance and a hardy meal. You can really chew on these.

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.

Award-winning poet Gary Soto and Caldecott winner David Diaz turn their eyes on the world of kids. From family pictures to pinatas, from the "gato "with a meow like a rusty latch to Fourth of July fireworks, the startling and often overlooked moments that define childhood are vividly brought to life by these two acclaimed talents.

For over two decades, the award-winning poet and author Gary Soto has been offering his readers a vision that transcends the ordinary, making him one of today's most celebrated Chicano writers. "New and Selected Poems" includes the best of his seven full-length collections, plus over 23 new poems previously unpublished in book form. From the charged, short-lined poems of Soto's early writing to an unflinching look at poverty and hard labor in California's Central Valley to the off-beat humor in his longer, more recent work, "New and Selected Poems" is a timely tribute to a brilliant writer whose work confirms the power of the human spirit to survive and soar.

You'd think a knife in the ribs would be the end of things, but for Chuy, that's when his life at last gets interesting. He finally sees that people love him, faces the consequences of his actions, finds in himself compassion and bravery . . . and even stumbles on what may be true love. A funny, touching, and wholly original story by one of the finest authors writing for young readers today.

On his thirteenth birthday, Ronnie woke up feeling like a chimp - all long armed, big eared, and gangly. 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.

In this new edition of his first young adult novel, Gary Soto paints a moving portrait of seventeen-year-old Jesse, who has left his parents' home to live with his older brother. These Mexican American brothers hope junior college will help them escape their heritage of tedious physical labor. Their struggles are humorous, true to life, and deeply affecting. Young adults will sympathize with the brothers as they come to terms with what is possible for each of them in an imperfect world.
" ""Includes a reader's guide."

It all starts when Marisa picks up the wrong cell phone. When she returns it to Rene, she feels curiously drawn to him. But Marisa and Rene aren't exactly a match made in heaven. For one thing, Marisa is a "chola"; she's a lot of girl, and she's not ashamed of it. Skinny Rene gangles like a sackful of elbows and wears a calculator on his belt. In other words, he's a geek. So why can't Marisa stay away from him? "Includes a glossary of Spanish words and phrases."

Thirteen-year-old Gabe Mendoza is headed to the public library when he hears a voice call, ""Son."" Gabe sizes up an approaching vagrant. ""It's me, your dad.""Dad? Couldn't be. This man looks homeless—is homeless. He's hauling a suitcase with everything he possesses—nothing. To Gabe, the figure doesn't look right. He's wearing a sweatshirt on a hot summer afternoon. His neck is filthy, his teeth rotten in an unsmiling mouth.  Gabe's father had abandoned him and his mother five years earlier. As the story unfolds, Gabe wrestles with confusion. Should he give his father a second chance—the father who is now destitute, possibly ill, pathetic, and an alcoholic? Life has never been easy for Gabe on the streets of Fresno. He's always escaping trouble, especially from Frankie Torres, who practices his gangbanging tactics on Gabe.  The novella is quick as anger, but Gabe isn't angry. There's tenderness in his troubled heart. It is meant to be read more than once—each reading will reveal more about his mother, playground life, forgiveness, and the healing nature of dog that comes into his life. . . . The afternoon was hot, maddening hot. He stopped under a tree and spied the temperature on the corner bank building: 104. Through the wavering heat, he eyed a figure in a 49ers sweatshirt. Dang, Gabe thought. What's wrong with this guy? A sweatshirt in this heat? ""Son,"" the figure beckoned to him. Son? Gabe wondered. Was this homeless man looking for a handout? ""It's me, your dad."" The figure in dirty clothes was pulling a large suitcase on wheels. The man did his best to hoist a smile. The vagrant did resemble his dad, whom Gabe hadn't seen in four years. His dad had driven away in the family's best car, with his clothes and the household computer in the backseat. He had also loaded the car with cases of soda and bottledwater, as if he were thirsty for a life other than the one he had with them. . . "" He's homeless,"" Gabe whispered to himself. Everything he owned was stuffed in that suitcase on wheels, which he hauled like a donkey pulling a cart.

Love is a good thing-so true in The Spark and Fire of It, this classic one-act romance: two young people smitten to the point of delirium and a gruff father who will have none of it. The father sees his daughter's suitor only as a penniless lad with nothing to offer. But the young woman's mother sees her own husband in the young man, remembering a time when he, too, was an empty-handed suitor. Add internal complications: the young women questions her own judgment, and the young man is tempted by a hooligan called Rascal. Then there is Old Gentleman, who, like a befuddled Socrates, understands this thing called love. The romance contains poems that begin with a line of Shakespeare that Soto artfully extends into his own original poetry. The dialogue is written in the vernacular of Elizabethan times-though occasionally it falls into contemporary street slang. The code switching reminds readers that love is a human experience that makes the young go crazy no matter the century!

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 reader to a ground-level perspective, resreating 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 my soles," his worn tennies smelling of "summer grass, asphalt, the moist sock breathing the defeat of basesall." The child's world is made up of small things--small, very important things.

"Sudden Loss of Dignity" represents where Gary Soto is in his life. He finds himself positioned in life as the older gent, or old guy. His poetry mirrors his personality, snarky and full of mockery. Soto writes about mainly aging and the loss of one's dignity as the years pass. It's very funny, poignant, sad, and especially true.

This inspiring story of Jessie De La Cruz, the United Farmer Workers, and la Causa is told as only Gary Soto-novelist, essayist, poet, and himself a field laborer during his teens-can tell it, with respect, empathy, and deep compassion for the working poor. A field worker from the age of five, Jessie knew poverty, harsh working conditions, and the exploitation of Mexicans and all poor people. Her response was to take a stand. She joined the fledgling United Farm Workers union and, at Cesar Chavez's request, became its first woman recruiter. She also participated in strikes, helped ban the crippling short-handle hoe, became a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, testified before the Senate, and met with the Pope. Jessie's life story personalizes an historical movement and shows teens how an ordinary woman became extraordinary through her will to make change happen, not just for herself but for others.

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.