Help Wanted : Stories

With real wit and heart, Gary Soto takes readers into the lives of young people in ten funny, heartbreaking tales. Meet Carolina, who writes to Miss Manners for help not just with etiquette but with bigger messes in her life; Javier, who knows the stories his friend Veronica tells him are lies, but can't find a way to prove it--and many other kids, each caught up in the difficulties of figuring out what it means to be alive.

in Ten Funny, Heartbreaking Tales, Gary Soto Reveals The Hopes And Hearts Of Today's Teens.

school Library Journal

gr 6-9-ten Original Short Stories About Mexican-american Teens In Central California. The Fundamental Theme Of Needing Help Is The Common Thread Among The Stories, Which Range From The Satirical To The Peculiar To The Humorous To The Sad. Sometimes The Help Is Administered In Unusual Fashion Or Never Quite Arrives At All, And Each Character Is Left To Puzzle The Complexity And Edginess Of Life. One Young Man Learns That Sometimes A Person Is Really Telling The Truth, Despite Evidence To The Opposite. Another Deals With Having A Girl Mistake Him For Her Boyfriend In A Dark Area At A Dance And Accidentally Bestow Upon Him Unexpected First Kisses. One Girl Mourns The Loss Of Her Mother And Tries To Find Evidence Of The Woman's Spirit In Every Creak Of The House. Another Laments Her Inability To Play Golf, Even Against A Frail Old Lady. Still Another Teen Wishes Desperately To Turn Around Her Family's Terrible Manners. These Interesting Characters Placed In Unique Situations, And The Thought-provoking Endings, Compensate For Intermittent Awkwardness In The Telling. The Occasional Insertion Of Spanish Words Is Done Skillfully So That Even Non-spanish Speakers Will Understand All Aspects Of The Stories, Which Are Similar In Style And Tone To Soto's Petty Crimes (harcourt, 1998).-diane P. Tuccillo, City Of Mesa Library, Az Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Diez historias que retratan algunas de las luchas y las esperanzas de los jóvenes méxico-americanos Ten stories portray some of the struggles and hopes of young Mexican Americans.