Today is poet Gary Soto's birthday. Dip into Soto’s poetry for young people with the poem, “Ode To My Library” from Neighborhood Odes (Harcourt, 1992) which is almost a short story it shares so many details about a small town library. Its description of the physical space of the library mentions the rooms, the books, the globe, the maps, the fish tank, the pencil sharpener, etc. Another wonderful collection of Soto’s poetry is Canto Familiar (Harcourt, 1995) which includes 25 poems dealing with experiences of Mexican American children growing up in the United States. These poems are written with lively voices that beg to be read aloud.
Gary Soto’s collection, A Fire in My Hands (Harcourt, expanded edition 2006), includes rich, descriptive poems as well as the short author insights that are offered at the beginning of each poem, so helpful to budding poets. For middle school students, Soto has created a set of poems woven together to tell a story about a friendship between two boys, Fearless Fernie: Hanging Out with Fernie & Me (Putnam 2002) and a sequel, Worlds Apart: Fernie and Me (Putnam 2005), with his usual blend of humor and humiliation.
It’s a challenge to choose just one example to share, but this is one of my favorites because of it’s open-ended non-ending. So, what happened?
Untitled
by Gary Soto
I once tried to steal from Charlie’s Market.
I stood at a tier of thirteen kinds of candy,
And I closed my hand around a Baby Ruth,
Then opened it very quickly
Because it was wrong. I was a boy,
No brighter than the penny
In my pocket. I closed my hand around
The candy again, then opened it.
God would know, my mother would know,
And certainly Charlie who was leaning his elbows
On the glass counter. I didn’t see him watching.
My small eyes stared at the candy,
First temptation of the greedy tooth.
My hand opened and closed around the Baby Ruth
Several more times. I kept thinking
All I have to do is pick it up
And it’ll be mine.
from: Poetry After Lunch: Poems to Read Aloud edited by Edward E. Wilson and Joyce A. Carroll (Absey & Co., 1997).
Now there’s a poem to discuss with young people!
Soto is also well known for his engaging picture books such as Chato’s Kitchen (Putnam, 1995) and its “Chato” sequels and the Christmas story, Too Many Tamales (Putnam, 1993), as well as middle grade novels and short stories including his ground-breaking Baseball in April (Harcourt, 1990) and the appealing The Skirt (Yearling, 1994), plus his contemporary young adult novels, such as Taking Sides (Harcourt, 1991) and The Afterlife (Harcourt, 2003). He has also produced the film “The Pool Party” based on his short novel for young people, as well as written the libretto for an opera entitled “Nerd-landia” and a play for young people called “Novio Boy.” I continue to watch for new Soto gems; his work offers both a much needed Latino voice as well as writing that is often startling in its imagery and phrasing.
new posts in all blogs
By: Sylvia Vardell,
on 4/12/2007
Blog: Poetry for Children (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, Soto, Latino, Add a tag
By: Manuel Ramos,
on 1/26/2007
Blog: La Bloga (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Soto, Tapia, Add a tag
Almost thirty years have passed since the publication of Gary Soto’s first book; the award winning collection of poetry titled The Elements of San Joaquin. For nearly three decades, readers of all walks have had the pleasure of experiencing life’s complexities from a Chicanito’s perspective of growing up in the San Joaquin Valley. Despite the fact that his hero, Pablo Neruda, clearly inhabits a world of his own, Soto, on occasion, has crafted poems that would have pleased the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature winner. The revised and expanded edition of A Fire in My Hands (Harcourt, 2006), a collection first published 15 years ago, boasts a handful of gems capable of making any poet happy.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />
While often promoted as a young adult writer, Soto’s ability to capture the daily moments of life does not fail to recall the emotions of those for whom their formative years have already become heartfelt recollections. In addition to the poetry inA Fire in My Hands, Soto provides an anecdote that attributes to the growth of each individual poem. “I don’t know if you could call it a date or not,” writes Soto. “But the first girl who allowed me to walk with her home was named Margarita,” is the tale which contributed to the last lines of the book’s highly acclaimed poem Oranges. I took my girl’s hand / In mine for two short blocks, / Then released it to let / Her unwrap her chocolate. / I peeled my orange / That was so bright against / The gray of December / That, from some distance, / Someone might have thought / I was making a fire in my hands.
5 Comments on A Poet & A Pugulist, last added: 5/7/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Soto, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 2 of 2
By: Sylvia Vardell,
on 4/12/2007
Blog: Poetry for Children (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, Soto, Latino, Add a tag
0 Comments on Happy Birthday, Gary Soto as of 1/1/1970
Add a Comment
By: Manuel Ramos,
on 1/26/2007
Blog: La Bloga (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Soto, Tapia, Add a tag
Almost thirty years have passed since the publication of Gary Soto’s first book; the award winning collection of poetry titled The Elements of San Joaquin. For nearly three decades, readers of all walks have had the pleasure of experiencing life’s complexities from a Chicanito’s perspective of growing up in the San Joaquin Valley. Despite the fact that his hero, Pablo Neruda, clearly inhabits a world of his own, Soto, on occasion, has crafted poems that would have pleased the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature winner. The revised and expanded edition of A Fire in My Hands (Harcourt, 2006), a collection first published 15 years ago, boasts a handful of gems capable of making any poet happy.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />
While often promoted as a young adult writer, Soto’s ability to capture the daily moments of life does not fail to recall the emotions of those for whom their formative years have already become heartfelt recollections. In addition to the poetry inA Fire in My Hands, Soto provides an anecdote that attributes to the growth of each individual poem. “I don’t know if you could call it a date or not,” writes Soto. “But the first girl who allowed me to walk with her home was named Margarita,” is the tale which contributed to the last lines of the book’s highly acclaimed poem Oranges. I took my girl’s hand / In mine for two short blocks, / Then released it to let / Her unwrap her chocolate. / I peeled my orange / That was so bright against / The gray of December / That, from some distance, / Someone might have thought / I was making a fire in my hands.
Deserving of every accolade, Soto has made a world all his own.
Jesse, wonderful insights! Gracias for sharing your thoughts on these books and authors.
jesse: thanks for covering this pair of interesting books. Soto's prose, esp. the Silver stuff, is some of my favorite. Sounds like you're a fanatic of the sweet science yourself. Keep up the great work. Hope to see more of your stuff on La Bloga. I'd love to hear what literature moves high school kids today.
Jesse -- thank you so much for profiling 2 books that deserve our attention, and for archiving important pieces of our history.
Great post for this morning. Thanks.
Honestllay speaking I rarely read poems. I uysed to read novels but poems very less. Because I have very different taste of poetry. I think you have impressed me a lot by your post on this book and author and I am looking forward to read the "a fire in my hand" Thanks for bring it in my knowledge.