A Fire in My Hands: A Book of Poems [Paperback]

Gary Soto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1992

A collection of poems brings to life themes of growing up, family, friendship, and first love and are drawn from the author's background as a Mexican-American in the San Joaquin Valley. Reprint. H.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-12-- A collection of 23 free-verse poems, each prefaced with a comment on how it came to be written. All reflect Soto's own experiences of growing up as a Mexican American in California, and, later, as the father of a young child. The poems, about everyday activities and events, are similar to Paul Janeczko's work in Brickyard Summer (Orchard, 1989). In the brief foreword and a question-and-answer section in the back of the book, Soto explains how he came to write poetry and why he writes as he does. Like the selections and comments by a number of contributors in Janeczko's The Place My Words Are Looking For (Bradbury, 1990), Soto's poems and thoughts provide gentle encouragement to young people who are seeking to express themselves through the use of language. --Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Autumn With A Daughter Who's Just Catching On
Black Hair
Brown Girl, Blonde Okie
Eating Bread
Envying The Children Of San Francisco
Evening Walk
Failing In The Presence Of Ants
Finding A Lucky Number
Heaven
Hitchhiking With A Friend And Book That Explains Pacific Ocn
How Things Work
How To Sell Things
In August
Kearney Park
Learning To Bargain
Looking Around, Believing
Morning On This Street
October
Oranges
Pepper Tree
Teaching Numbers
That Girl
Where We Could Go
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 63 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; Reissue edition (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590445790
• ISBN-13: 978-0590445795
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,730,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Fresno, California to Mexican American parents, Gary Soto learned the hard work ethic through his share of chores, including mowing lawns, picking grapes, painting house numbers on street curbs, and washing cars. His hard work paid off at California State University at Fresno, from which he graduated with an English degree, and later at the University of California at Irvine, where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.Gary Soto is an acclaimed poet, essayist, and fiction writer. The awards for this multi-talented author are many, ranging from the U.S. Award for International Poetry Forum in 1977 for his first published book of poetry, The Elements of San Joaquin, to a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award in 1985 for Living Up the Street, his first published work of prose recollections. His short story collection Baseball in April, was named an American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults. In 1993 Gary Soto received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video for Pool Party, and in 1995 he was nominated for a National Book Award.His other credits include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council. Gary Soto is also one of the youngest poets to appear in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Several of his books have been translated into French, Spanish and Italian.Too Many Tamales was named a Booklist Books for Youth Editors' Choices of 1993. Hazel Rochman of Booklist said, "Gary Soto is an accomplished poet and adult writer, and his children's stories are widely popular. His first entry into the picture book genre is a joyful success."When he is not writing, Mr. Soto serves as a volunteer English teacher at his church. He also enjoys eating at new restaurants, which he does often with his wife, Carolyn, and their daughter Mariko. Other members of the Soto household include their two cats, Corky and Sharkie. The Soto family resides in Berkeley, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the poetry of eveyday life, July 29, 2004

By 

The Vista LMT "Becky" (Gaviota, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fire in My Hands: A Book of Poems (Paperback)

By the author of short stories "Mother and Daughter" and "The Broken Chain," these twenty-three poems recall Soto's years growing up in Fresno, CA and later as a father. His memories mix with metaphors everyone can relate to as he recalls his love of baseball, shyly flirting in the library, and being too broke to treat his date to a candy bar. He remembers trying to earn money to go to the movies by selling oranges door to door, accompanied by a helpful dog. The poems are written in free verse, and the poet introduces each one with a note explaining the circumstances that inspired him to write it. In the Foreword and Question and Answer section at the end, Soto gives kind and helpful advice to those interested in writing their own poems.

This a very accessible and thin volume of poetry with wide appeal.