FINISHED:

Soto, Gary. (2008). Facts of life: Stories. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.

[Watch this space for my official ACL review...

Ta-da:

Mickey Cortez gets conned into helping someone steal a TV but leaves the scene and goes about the rest of his day. Lisa Torres, who lives in a trailer in the desert and a dreams of being a struggling artist in “the big city”, draws the beauty that she sees in her not-so-wonderful life. Ana Hernandez is disturbed when another Ana Hernandez enrolls in her school and gets more attention than she ever got. Rachel and her little brother get a punk rock babysitter who encourages bad behavior. Ryan Gonzalez gets a “D” in English and Spanish in school and then stumbles upon an ESL classroom where adults from around the world are learning English. These and other tales are told in Soto’s latest, a collection of 10 shorts about tweens learning life lessons and what it means to be an adult. Each story is a self-contained, open-ended slice of life vignette – plotless tales which just… end, and we are left to assume that life will go on for these young people after we leave them. Most young readers will see themselves in at least one of these characters and be able to relate to at least one of the situations, and, hopefully will not be turned off by the lack of resolution in the majority of the stories. Soto’s writing is solid and his characters speak authentically making this one a timeless gem. Included is a glossary of the Spanish words and phrases used throughout the stories, although, in most cases these can be deciphered in the text itself either by context or immediate translation by another character.]

STARTED:
Caveney, Philip. (2007). Sebastian Darke: Prince of fools. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[Also reviewing for ACL.]

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