Library & Information Science, Course 262: Resources for Young Adults.
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I choose Gary Soto as my mini project. Patterson High School is located in the San Joaquin Valley of California and 65% of our population is Mexican American. The majority of families are from agricultural backgrounds and many are migrant farmworkers. I felt that reading Gary Soto would help me to relate to the cultural heritage of my students.

 Gary Soto is a prize-winning poet, essayist, and filmmaker as well as a children1s book author. Growing up in Fresno, California of Mexican American heritage has provided him with numerous experiences for his writings. His first book for young people, a collection of short stories entitled Baseball in April, won the 1990 Beatty Award and was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

Baseball in April and Other Stories. Harcourt Brace, 1990. A collection of eleven short stories focusing on the everyday adventures of Hispanic young people growing up in Fresno, California.

Boys at Work. Delacorte Press, 1995. When Rudy Herrera accidentally breaks an expensive Discman that belongs to a bully he and his friends try every job then can get, including trying to find a missing cat, to make money to replace the Discman.

Buried Onions. Harcourt Brace, 1997. When Nineteen-year-old Eddie drops out of college, he struggles to find a place for himself as a Mexican American living in a violence-infested neighborhood of Fresno. He has to deal with avoiding gangs and pressure to avenge the death of his cousin.

Canto Familiar. Harcourt Brace, 1995. Familiar songs - familiar to children, to adults who remember, to Mexican Americans, and to all Americans. Song about the everyday things in life like doing dishes and ironing.

Crazy Weekend. Scholastic, 1994. After a photograph of a robbery taken by Hector and Mando appears in a local newspaper, they find themselves pursued by the thieves.

The Elements of the San Joaquin. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1977. Poems that explore the experiences of living and working in the San Joaquin Valley.

A Fire In My Hands. Scholastic, 1990. A collection of twenty-three poems about everyday events.

Jesse. Harcourt Brace, 1994. Two Mexican American brothers hope that junior college will help them escape their heritage of tedious physical labor in the agricultural fields of the San Joaquin Valley.

Junior College. Chronicle Books, 1997. A collection of forty poems explores the many faces of angst, anxiety and misguided realities of childhood and adolescence. Topics that appeal to young adults.

Living Up The Street.. Laurel Leaf Books, 1985. Autobiographical stories about growing up in the dust and heat of Fresno1s industrial side.

Local News. Harcourt Brace, 1993 A collection of 13 short stories about the everyday lives of Mexican American young people in California1s Central Valley.

Neighborhood Odes. Harcourt Brace, 1992. Twenty-one poems about growing up in a Hispanic neighborhood, highlighting the delights in such everyday items as sprinklers, the park, the library and pomegranates.

Novio Boy. Harcourt Brace, 1997. A play in seven acts about a boy, Rudy, who anxiously prepares for and then goes out on a first date with an attractive girl who is older than he is.

Off and Running. Delacorte Press, 1996. When serious students Miata and Ana find that they are running against the class clowns for class president they think an image change will get those extra votes.

Petty Crimes. Harcourt Brace, 1998. A collection of short stories about growing up Mexican American in the Central Valley.

The Pool Party. A Yearling Book, 1993. Rudy learns about class differences when he attends a birthday party for the richest girl in school then returns to his humble home.

Pacific Crossing. Harcourt Brace, 1992. Lincoln Mendoza goes to Japan for the summer and discovers: baseball and jokes, families and farming, history and tradition, and that it1s hard to explain what it means to be both Mexican and American.

Summer Life. Laurel Leaf Book, 1990. The author recalls his childhood in Fresno, in the 19501s and 19601s, recreating the sights, sounds and smells of his experience in a working-class Mexican American community.

Summer on Wheels. Scholastic, 1995. Hector and his best friend Mango enjoy many exciting adventures when they take a six day bike trip from their East Los Angeles neighborhood to the Santa Monica beach during summer vacation.

Taking Sides. Harcourt Brace, 1991. Fourteen year old Lincoln Mendoz, an aspiring basketball player, must come to terms with his divided loyalties when he moves from the Hispanic inner city to a white suburban neighborhood.

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