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.

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.

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,...

A poignant, humorous collection by acclaimed poet Gary Soto 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...

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,"...

In books like Buried Onions and Boys at Work Gary Soto displays a gift for revealing the tough, heart-breaking life of contemporary urban kids. In Petty Crimes, Soto offers 10 stories about the risky situations and dangerous little scams faced by young people growing up on the harsh streets of the city. Meet Alma, who can accept her mother's death from cancer, but not the loss of her mother's clothes to local charities. Cheer for Rudy, who learns...

Fifth-grader Miata Ramirez is running for class president. Her best friend, Ana, is her running mate. The girls are stunned when they learn they are running against class clown Rudy Herrera and his friend Alex. At first Miata is certain she will win the election. She has big plans to make the school a better place. She'll clean up the graffiti, plant flowers and trees, and get computers. Rudy is confident he'll get the votes by promising longer recess...

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...

Hector and his amigo Mando are looking for adventure as they hit the road on a leisurely bike trip from their East LA neighborhood to the beach in Santa Monica during summer vacation. They have just set out when the fun begins, as Hector literally stumbles into a starring role in a TV commercial. Then he turns out to be the one-millionth fan at a Dodger game-and is escorted to a private box and treated like a VIP! Before arriving at the beach, the...

Growing up Mexican-American in Fresno, California in the 1950's and 60's might not have been easy, but it was certainly never boring for young Gary Soto, his brother Rick and sister Debra. As this compilation of 21 short stories and articles illustrates, there is no limit to the amount of fun a child can have, or how much he can terrorize siblings and neighbors if his imagination is active. Whether it's beating the new neighbor kids with bagged cats,...