A Summer Life (Laurel-Leaf Books)

I read Gary Soto's "A Summer Life" while I was writing my first book in order to educate myself in the creation of vibrant, evocative scenes that come out of ordinary, every day experiences. For example, in Soto's essay, "The Shirt," he shows how the tragic, post-Korean War existence of Uncle Shorty seemed magical and special to a young Soto who covets his uncle's shirt: "I used to slip it on when he was asleep, and at the age of five I knew the smell of a man who went and came back from war....It was the shape of muscle, the anger of a tattoo panther hiding behind cotton, the hair in the collar, the small hole where a bullet could have entered and exited without his dying." Or, with the simple first line of "The Weather," Soto can set the stage for the mysteries of climate: "January doesn't show its true face until you can scratch a cold window with a finger." This little book will make you smile (and sometimes wince) as it brings back your own personal memories of growing up. This is a wonderful collection that offers everyone, including new writers, a chance to enjoy and learn from beautifully crafted essays.

A Summer Life explores a young boys life as he grows up in Fresno, California. In a three partbook, broken into thirteen short chapters in each part, Gary Soto covers everything from "TheColors", to "The Chicks", to "The Computer Date". (names of chapters). Mischeivness wasdefinitely a part of this boys life, just as it is for most young boys. In just the first chapter, "TheBuddha", the boy killed ants with his Buddha toy, and ran underneath a moving semi-truck. The boy would do such silly things as taking old bicycle handle bars and imagining that they would slow him down and keep him from reaching a high, uncontrollable speed. He would also put bottle caps on the bottom of his shoes, then he would kick the cement to make an "engine of sparks" come from beneath his feet. Throughout the story the boy has a few problems with his siblings. When his sister chewed Bazooka bubble gum and saved the proof of purchases to send in and get a locket, he wanted her to get the binoculars instead. As the boy has these experiences with his family and his surrounding, he matures from age five to seventeen, and is confronted with events that teach him lessons about life. Gary Soto definitely shows his poet style of writing in A Summer Life. There is rarely a detail missed. This was truly a great book and I recommend it to readers who enjoy real life situations, a sly sense of humor, and a realist style of writing. I would give "A Summer Life" three thumbs up if I had another hand! -RmP

This book was first read to me when I was in fifth grade. Years later I can still remember being in California with the characters in the book - smelling, seeing, touching everything that they smelled, saw and touched. Wow.