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Living Up the Street
In a prose that is so beautiful it is poetry, we see the world of growing up and going somewhere through the dust and heat of Fresno's industrial side and beyond: It is a boy's coming of age in the barrio, parochial school, attending church, public summer school, and trying to fall out of love so he can join in a Little League baseball team.
His is a clarity that rings constantly through the warmth and wry reality of these sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic, always human remembrances.
His is a clarity that rings constantly through the warmth and wry reality of these sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic, always human remembrances.
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
58 people are currently reading
443 people want to read
About the author
Gary Soto
138 books247 followersGary Soto is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as NBC’s Person-of-the-Week. In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his hometown of Fresno.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
May 14, 2017
I first read this book of “narrative recollections” when I was in my 20s, and I remember being deeply impressed with the lyricism and honesty in these short pieces. Recently, I have been searching for bite-sized examples of exceptional writing to share with the middle school students whom I tutor, and I thought again of how much I enjoyed this book. Due to its local unavailability, I had to request an interlibrary loan, but after a long month of waiting, Living Up the Street and I were reunited and left alone together to get reacquainted. The book, presumably, has not changed, so any differences in reception will be because of me. Now that I am in my 40s and that my aim is to find writings that I can comfortably introduce to 12 to 15-year-olds without creating controversy, how will I respond to this book?
The good news is that the book is still the same: powerfully descriptive and so incisive about childhood and young adulthood that however disparate our experiences were (the author was a poor Hispanic boy living in Fresno in the 1960’s while I was a middle-class white girl growing up in a rural town in Wyoming in the 1980’s), there was not an unfamiliar or false note in here. His stories continue to evoke the real essence of childhood: the strange and complex hierarchy that is only found among children, the wanton, exploratory violence like lion cubs at play, the instinctual realizations about the surrounding adults. The childhood portion is told without much sentimental ornamentation (such as the story of his first love, whom he was unable to recognize out of a crowd). However, his early married years are described more lovingly and with more of an ache to them.
The stories are unflinchingly authentic, and this, unfortunately, is a problem when it comes to sharing them in a quasi-educational setting. I loved the first story of the wild Soto children (“Being Mean”), but I’d have a hard time sharing the episode where Gary and his brother set off to beat up some new neighborhood children (who were “Okies”) with sacks filled with cats. Out of all of the stories, I ended up with three that I could use: “Saturday with Jackie”, “Bloodworth” (with a few small applications of a Sharpie), and “One Last Time”. It makes me a little sad that I could not choose more.
Soto’s real strength lies in his lyricism, a trait that is common with poets-turned-novelists. His use of metaphors is simply breath-taking. For instance, in the short story “Saturday with Jackie”, Gary entices his friend, Jackie, to go with him to the local shopping center. They soon make a detour into an abandoned store that they break into, taking us to this scene:
Once inside, we looked around like astronauts on the moon. A shaft of sunlight, with its orbiting dust, shone from the roof and ended in a seizure of light far on the other side, where we made out desks, chairs, counters, an open elevator, and a broken mirror on the wall […] We walked carefully because of the dark. Broken glass crunched under our shoes; dust, thick as the first minute of snow, made us sneeze. We sensed spiders, but we didn’t find any swinging on their trapeze. We sensed mice but the only noises were from the things we knocked over. We walked like blind men, hands out and feeling the air…”(pg 79)
Gary and Jackie end up stealing two mannequins from the store, and realizing they have no one to sell them to, make them fight each other- using them like clubs- until they are utterly destroyed. This mixture of boredom, senseless destruction, and general lawlessness remind me powerfully of my own childhood. I’m curious to read it with this new generation of kids and see if they also connect to the underlying feelings.
The good news is that the book is still the same: powerfully descriptive and so incisive about childhood and young adulthood that however disparate our experiences were (the author was a poor Hispanic boy living in Fresno in the 1960’s while I was a middle-class white girl growing up in a rural town in Wyoming in the 1980’s), there was not an unfamiliar or false note in here. His stories continue to evoke the real essence of childhood: the strange and complex hierarchy that is only found among children, the wanton, exploratory violence like lion cubs at play, the instinctual realizations about the surrounding adults. The childhood portion is told without much sentimental ornamentation (such as the story of his first love, whom he was unable to recognize out of a crowd). However, his early married years are described more lovingly and with more of an ache to them.
The stories are unflinchingly authentic, and this, unfortunately, is a problem when it comes to sharing them in a quasi-educational setting. I loved the first story of the wild Soto children (“Being Mean”), but I’d have a hard time sharing the episode where Gary and his brother set off to beat up some new neighborhood children (who were “Okies”) with sacks filled with cats. Out of all of the stories, I ended up with three that I could use: “Saturday with Jackie”, “Bloodworth” (with a few small applications of a Sharpie), and “One Last Time”. It makes me a little sad that I could not choose more.
Soto’s real strength lies in his lyricism, a trait that is common with poets-turned-novelists. His use of metaphors is simply breath-taking. For instance, in the short story “Saturday with Jackie”, Gary entices his friend, Jackie, to go with him to the local shopping center. They soon make a detour into an abandoned store that they break into, taking us to this scene:
Once inside, we looked around like astronauts on the moon. A shaft of sunlight, with its orbiting dust, shone from the roof and ended in a seizure of light far on the other side, where we made out desks, chairs, counters, an open elevator, and a broken mirror on the wall […] We walked carefully because of the dark. Broken glass crunched under our shoes; dust, thick as the first minute of snow, made us sneeze. We sensed spiders, but we didn’t find any swinging on their trapeze. We sensed mice but the only noises were from the things we knocked over. We walked like blind men, hands out and feeling the air…”(pg 79)
Gary and Jackie end up stealing two mannequins from the store, and realizing they have no one to sell them to, make them fight each other- using them like clubs- until they are utterly destroyed. This mixture of boredom, senseless destruction, and general lawlessness remind me powerfully of my own childhood. I’m curious to read it with this new generation of kids and see if they also connect to the underlying feelings.
July 6, 2019
I used to teach this book frequently to undergrads. It's short but very rich, spanning Soto's life from early childhood to early adulthood. By turns it's tragic, heartbreaking, charming, and funny, but it's always poetic and insightful. You can read it easily in one sitting of an hour or so, and it's a really great example of 20th-century Chicano literature.
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January 24, 2014I recently read LIiving up the street by Gary Soto. This story is an autobiography about Gary Soto life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book, Soto writes about his childhood in the 1950s and 1960s,his working class neighborhood his school adventures, how he gets into mischief, his relationship with his family and his work experiences. Some of the characters in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra, and the mother.
One of the problems that occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the street. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He eventually finds a place to live by renting a room from a family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My favorite part of the book was when they were working in the tire shop and the border patrol came and they all started running away from them because they were undocumented immigrants, but Gary wasn’t an immigrant he just ran with them for fun. Its my favorite because its show us how us Mexican work hard and risk our life for our families.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parents. As i was reading the book, I learned that our decisions always have positive or negative consequences. In my opinion, Living Up the Street, was mediocre because it was a book that has a lot of adventures.
I do and don’t recommend this book because its confusing, Gary changes unexpectedly in every chapter. But its shows us how he gets older and is mature even to live by himself.
Want to read
January 17, 2014One of the problems that arises in the story is Soto becomes homeless when he runs aways from home. The conflict is resolved when he find a job in Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He finally finds a place to stay by renting a room by a middle age couple
My favorite part of the book was when Gary Soto had to pull down his pants to get a shot of penicillin. The reason he had to get a shot of penicillin was because he had a soI recently ead living up the street by Gary loto. This story is a narrative about Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book Soto writes about his childhood experiences,, His family, His work encounters, poverty, and his love life. Some of the characters are his brother Rick, his sister Debra
re throat. This was my favorite part of the book because I could relate to him. When I was little I had to get a shot of penicillin because I had a stomach infection. I can only imagine how much pain he went through because it was really painful and stressful for me.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to be able to succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor but you can still enjoy your life. In my opinion the book, Living up the Street, was kind of boring because in some of his chapters the things he would bring up were kind of boring. But some of the subjects he would talk about were interesting. Overall, this book was pretty interesting and nice. I learned how hard it was growing up in a poor neighborhood.
My favorite part of the book was when Gary Soto had to pull down his pants to get a shot of penicillin. The reason he had to get a shot of penicillin was because he had a soI recently ead living up the street by Gary loto. This story is a narrative about Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book Soto writes about his childhood experiences,, His family, His work encounters, poverty, and his love life. Some of the characters are his brother Rick, his sister Debra
re throat. This was my favorite part of the book because I could relate to him. When I was little I had to get a shot of penicillin because I had a stomach infection. I can only imagine how much pain he went through because it was really painful and stressful for me.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to be able to succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor but you can still enjoy your life. In my opinion the book, Living up the Street, was kind of boring because in some of his chapters the things he would bring up were kind of boring. But some of the subjects he would talk about were interesting. Overall, this book was pretty interesting and nice. I learned how hard it was growing up in a poor neighborhood.
May 29, 2017
Loved the detail early on in the book but it lacks in the later chapters
December 10, 2018
The central idea of this novel is, I think, poverty. Gary Soto lived his whole life in poverty, and we see what that means in each stage of life. What I found interesting about this was that he describes it as he was living it; he doesn't add any hint of his thoughts about the situations presently. It's not ever explicitly stated that he did live in poverty, but it's very obvious from his experiences alone- what he had, what he did, how he thought. He doesn't try to hide or sugar coat it, but he also doesn't make it seem like it's all the book is about, he's just telling his life story.
A word I would choose to describe this is discrimination. Now, again, the word discrimination isn't used a lot in the book, but the idea lingers like a bad stench. Over and over again, Mexicans are referred to as worthless. Even Gary feels that way for a while. There are things he doesn't want to do and even vehemently rejects because he feels it's strictly a Mexican thing, and he doesn't want to be seen as only that.
I thought this was a good book, though not really out of the ordinary. I was able to relate to much of what he went through and it did hit home. That being said, I've seen many things like it that have touched me more. I appreciate the fact that it does go into detail about the little things that make up this culture built on poverty. Though it's nothing amazing in my opinion, I do think it's worth the read if you're interested in learning about what it means to live in poverty.
A word I would choose to describe this is discrimination. Now, again, the word discrimination isn't used a lot in the book, but the idea lingers like a bad stench. Over and over again, Mexicans are referred to as worthless. Even Gary feels that way for a while. There are things he doesn't want to do and even vehemently rejects because he feels it's strictly a Mexican thing, and he doesn't want to be seen as only that.
I thought this was a good book, though not really out of the ordinary. I was able to relate to much of what he went through and it did hit home. That being said, I've seen many things like it that have touched me more. I appreciate the fact that it does go into detail about the little things that make up this culture built on poverty. Though it's nothing amazing in my opinion, I do think it's worth the read if you're interested in learning about what it means to live in poverty.
October 11, 2021
Living Up The Street is a semi-styled autobiography of children's author Gary Soto of his life growing up in Fresno to when he becomes a young married man. Each chapter is split into a story he reminisce during certain phases of his life. As a child of poor immigrants, he is often participating in school contests to show up his siblings or thinking of getting rich-quick schemes during the summer, much of which gets him into trouble with his mother. As a teen, he runs away and is homeless for a while as he worked in a tire shop. As an adult, he finds his significant other, and while he dreams of living a the pleasure life, is burdened by how they are still financially poor prior to the start of his author career.
Written in a tone that is in fondness of the past life, Soto provides a witty insight to what it's like to grow up as a Latino. He is proud of his heritage, though many experiences made him question himself and wished he could have been treated better. Much of the first half of the book is interesting to see his childhood, but some of the tales of his young adult life didn't have the same punch in style to his rascal youth. Overall though, it is a nice story that I found enjoyable enough to know not only the author, but the experience many Hispanics go through unfairly in the U.S. A welcomed read for Hispanic Heritage Month.
Written in a tone that is in fondness of the past life, Soto provides a witty insight to what it's like to grow up as a Latino. He is proud of his heritage, though many experiences made him question himself and wished he could have been treated better. Much of the first half of the book is interesting to see his childhood, but some of the tales of his young adult life didn't have the same punch in style to his rascal youth. Overall though, it is a nice story that I found enjoyable enough to know not only the author, but the experience many Hispanics go through unfairly in the U.S. A welcomed read for Hispanic Heritage Month.
November 26, 2018
This book is told in the perspective of Gary Soto who is the author. It follows his adventures as a young boy living in Fresno, California. Gary writes about the trouble he gets into, the stress of trying out for a sports team, facing bullies and many more moments that a child may experience while growing up. I really enjoyed this book because it covered different themes and moods. This book talks about experiences that he had while growing up that are both funny, sad and exciting. I would recommend this book to middle schoolers because a lot of the stories are some they might be able to relate to. There are parts in the book about stealing and violence which could rise problems for some readers but the morals of the stories are meant to teach readers. This is a book I could use in a classroom to have students read in small groups to practice their fluency. It is an easy read but students could easily become interested in it because of the stories mood and tension. There are many positive moments in the book but also many moments of rough times and lessons being learned.
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September 4, 20215 copies in library
March 5, 2022
An entertaining and nicely-written collection of memoirs.
February 20, 2025
An incredible set of child misadventures, even if I can't relate to growing up in Fresno in the '60s.
January 3, 2023
Autobiographies my favorite genre, I love hearing stories of other people's lives, especially from times I wasn't able to experience. Stories from the 70's are so interesting to me, and getting a new perspective on it was eye-opening. Most stories I have heard have been from white people, getting to see how a Mexican lived during this time was a change and I'm glad I was able to read about it. Last few chapters lacked detail and character explanation which made me a little mad, but the rest of the book is beautifully written and sucked me (in).
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January 22, 2014I recently read Living up the street By Gary Soto. This book is an autobiography about Gary Soto’s life, who is a mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book Soto writes about his childhood in the 1950s and 1960s, his working class neighborhood, his school adventures, how he gets into mischief, his relationship with his family, and his work experiences. Some of the characters in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra, and his mother.
One of the problems that occur in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in glendale, California. He eventually finds a places to live by renting a room from a family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My favorite part of the book was when Gary Soto ran away from the border patrol, even though he wasn't an illegal immigrant but he ran because he just wanted to waste time. Soto wrote, “The foreman, who thought I was an undocumented worker, yelled at me to run, to get away.” It is my favorite part of the book because the situation was funny. I can identify with Soto because there were many time that I ran away from by brother just for fun.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parents. As i was reading the book, I learned that our decisions always have positive or negative consequences. In my opinion, Living Up the Street, was good because it showed how he ran away from his home and how he worked hard to become a successful poet writer.
One of the problems that occur in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in glendale, California. He eventually finds a places to live by renting a room from a family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My favorite part of the book was when Gary Soto ran away from the border patrol, even though he wasn't an illegal immigrant but he ran because he just wanted to waste time. Soto wrote, “The foreman, who thought I was an undocumented worker, yelled at me to run, to get away.” It is my favorite part of the book because the situation was funny. I can identify with Soto because there were many time that I ran away from by brother just for fun.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parents. As i was reading the book, I learned that our decisions always have positive or negative consequences. In my opinion, Living Up the Street, was good because it showed how he ran away from his home and how he worked hard to become a successful poet writer.
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January 23, 2014 I recently read Living Up the Street By Gary Soto. This story is a parrative about Gary Soto’s Life. Mexican: American living in Fresno, California in the book Soto writes about his childhood experiences. His family, his work encounters, covery, and his love life. Some of the characters in the book, and his brother Rick, his sister Debra and his mother
One of the problems that arises in the story is Soto becomes homeless when he runs away from home. The conflict is resolved when he finds a job in at “ Valley View Factory”, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He finally finds a place to stay by renting a room from a middle age couple.
My favorite part when they were at the baseball field. The chapter was called Baseball in April. Soto started the chapter by writing, “There are three springs my brother and i walked to Romain playground to try for little league.” I picked this chapter because I enjoyed reading about them walking to the baseball field and trying out for baseball. This is my favorite part of the book because It talks about how to play baseball. I identify with this part of the book because I tied out for baseball just like him.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor but you can still enjoy your life. In my opinion the book, Living up the Street, I think this book is kind of good, but most of the chapters were a little bit boring. I didn’t really learn anything from this book. I would recommend this book to my cousins because my cousins find family life important, like Gary Soto.
One of the problems that arises in the story is Soto becomes homeless when he runs away from home. The conflict is resolved when he finds a job in at “ Valley View Factory”, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He finally finds a place to stay by renting a room from a middle age couple.
My favorite part when they were at the baseball field. The chapter was called Baseball in April. Soto started the chapter by writing, “There are three springs my brother and i walked to Romain playground to try for little league.” I picked this chapter because I enjoyed reading about them walking to the baseball field and trying out for baseball. This is my favorite part of the book because It talks about how to play baseball. I identify with this part of the book because I tied out for baseball just like him.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor but you can still enjoy your life. In my opinion the book, Living up the Street, I think this book is kind of good, but most of the chapters were a little bit boring. I didn’t really learn anything from this book. I would recommend this book to my cousins because my cousins find family life important, like Gary Soto.
January 17, 2014
I recently read Living up the street by Gary soto. This book is an autobiography Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book, Soto writes about childhood in the 1950s and 1960s, his working class neighborhood, his school adventures,how he gets into mischief, relationship with his family, his work experiences and how he gets into mischief.
Some of the characters in the book Rick, his sister Debra, and his mother. one of the problems that occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home, and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He eventually finds a place to live by renting room from a family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My favorite part of the book was when Soto decided to rob from his Friend’s sister’s house. It is my favorite part of the book because I can relate to the stupid decisions I made when I was younger.
I think Gary Soto wants the readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, with the help of our parents.
As i was reading the book, I learned that our decisions always have positive and negative consequences. In my opinion, Living Up the street, was decent because the book was just about his life and how his life was like as a kid. I do not recommend this book because its just the author's life in a book.
Some of the characters in the book Rick, his sister Debra, and his mother. one of the problems that occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home, and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He eventually finds a place to live by renting room from a family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My favorite part of the book was when Soto decided to rob from his Friend’s sister’s house. It is my favorite part of the book because I can relate to the stupid decisions I made when I was younger.
I think Gary Soto wants the readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, with the help of our parents.
As i was reading the book, I learned that our decisions always have positive and negative consequences. In my opinion, Living Up the street, was decent because the book was just about his life and how his life was like as a kid. I do not recommend this book because its just the author's life in a book.
Read
January 17, 2014I recently read living up the street by Gary Soto. this story is a narrative about Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. Ln the book, Soto writes about his childhood experiences, his family,his job encounters, poverty , and his love life. some of the characters in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra and his mother.
One of the the problems that arises in the story is Soto become homeless when he left home. The conflict is resolved homeless when he runs away. the conflict is resolved when he finds a job at Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glen California. He finally finds a place to stay by renting a from a middle age couple.
My favorite part of the book was when it says, “She [the pharmacist] waited on a boy who couldn't decide on life savings or cough drops before she waved me into the back room where l was asked to drops my pants as she searched, on tip toes, on tip toes, among a row of tiny boxes for the penicillin.” Gary Soto had to get a penicillin shot because he was sick. This is my favorite book because it is funny.
l think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to be to succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor but you can still enjoy your life .In my opinion the book,Living Up the Street, was a good book because it was funny. I learned that life is very difficult when you are poor. I would recommend this book because I laughed while reading it.
One of the the problems that arises in the story is Soto become homeless when he left home. The conflict is resolved homeless when he runs away. the conflict is resolved when he finds a job at Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glen California. He finally finds a place to stay by renting a from a middle age couple.
My favorite part of the book was when it says, “She [the pharmacist] waited on a boy who couldn't decide on life savings or cough drops before she waved me into the back room where l was asked to drops my pants as she searched, on tip toes, on tip toes, among a row of tiny boxes for the penicillin.” Gary Soto had to get a penicillin shot because he was sick. This is my favorite book because it is funny.
l think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to be to succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor but you can still enjoy your life .In my opinion the book,Living Up the Street, was a good book because it was funny. I learned that life is very difficult when you are poor. I would recommend this book because I laughed while reading it.
January 24, 2014
I recently read Living up the street by Gary Soto. This book is an autobiography about Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican - American living in fresno,california. In the book,Soto writes about his childhood in the 1950s and 1960s,his working class neighborhood, his school adventures, how he gets into mischief,his relationship with his family, and his work experiences. some of the characters in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra, and his mother.
one of the problems that occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the Valley Tire Factory , a tire shop in glendale , California . He eventually finds a place to live by renting a room from a family that aru
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent.to know that
My favorite part of the book was when the Mexican immigrants and Gary run away from the border patrol even though Gary had papers
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parent.
In my opinion , Living up the street was a great book because the its a book you can relate to because life is hard as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parent.
one of the problems that occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the Valley Tire Factory , a tire shop in glendale , California . He eventually finds a place to live by renting a room from a family that aru
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent.to know that
My favorite part of the book was when the Mexican immigrants and Gary run away from the border patrol even though Gary had papers
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us to know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parent.
In my opinion , Living up the street was a great book because the its a book you can relate to because life is hard as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parent.
March 28, 2014
I recently read Living Up the Street by Gary Soto. This story is a narrative about Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book Soto writes about his childhood experiences, his family, his work encounters, poverty, and his love life. Some of the character in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra and his mother.
One of the problems that arises in the story is Soto becomes homeless when he runs away from home. The conflict is resolved when he finds a job at Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He finally finds a places to stay by renting a room from a middle age couple.
My favorite part of the book was when Gary went blind and his brother took his sunglasses and gary got lost in the park.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard now and not later so you can succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one are poor but you can still enjoy your life. In my opinion the book, Living up the Street, I thought the book was everywhere in one chapter he would be 18 year old and in the next he would had kids and have a wife, but there was some good parts in the book that I liked to like when he was a kid to. Over all I thought the book was about a 5/10, I didn’t love the book but I didn’t hate the book. I wouldn’t recommend this book because I didn’t love the book.
One of the problems that arises in the story is Soto becomes homeless when he runs away from home. The conflict is resolved when he finds a job at Valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He finally finds a places to stay by renting a room from a middle age couple.
My favorite part of the book was when Gary went blind and his brother took his sunglasses and gary got lost in the park.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard now and not later so you can succeed in life. He also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one are poor but you can still enjoy your life. In my opinion the book, Living up the Street, I thought the book was everywhere in one chapter he would be 18 year old and in the next he would had kids and have a wife, but there was some good parts in the book that I liked to like when he was a kid to. Over all I thought the book was about a 5/10, I didn’t love the book but I didn’t hate the book. I wouldn’t recommend this book because I didn’t love the book.
January 17, 2014
Living up the street
I recently read Living up the Street by Gary Soto. This book is an autobiography about Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book Soto writes about his childhood in the 1950s and 1960s, his neighborhood, his school adventures, how he gets into mischief. His relationship with his family, and his work experiences. Some of the characters in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra, and is mother.
One of the problems that occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He eventually finds a place to live by renting a room from a Family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My Favorite part of the book was when Soto want Ronnie to leave because they stole things from the house.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parents. As I was reading the book, I learned that our decisions always have positive or negative consequences. in my opinion, Living up the Street, was not good because it talk about his boring life
I recently read Living up the Street by Gary Soto. This book is an autobiography about Gary Soto’s life, who is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. In the book Soto writes about his childhood in the 1950s and 1960s, his neighborhood, his school adventures, how he gets into mischief. His relationship with his family, and his work experiences. Some of the characters in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra, and is mother.
One of the problems that occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California. He eventually finds a place to live by renting a room from a Family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My Favorite part of the book was when Soto want Ronnie to leave because they stole things from the house.
I think Gary Soto wants readers to know that relationship with your family is very important. He also wants us know that life is hard because as we get older we need to learn how to be independent, without the help of our parents. As I was reading the book, I learned that our decisions always have positive or negative consequences. in my opinion, Living up the Street, was not good because it talk about his boring life
January 21, 2014
I recently read Living up the street by Gary Soto. This book is an autobiography about Gary Soto’s life, Who is a Mexican American living in Fresno, California. In the Soto writes about his childhood in the 1950s and 1960s his working class neighborhood, his adventures how he gets into mischief, his relationship with his family and his work experiences. Some of the character in the book are his brother Rick, his sister Debra, and his mother.
One of the problems occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California He eventually finds a place to live by renting a room from a family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My favorite part of the book was when Soto describes his childhood when he and his friends would always have fights and someone would always get hurt and cry thats when they would stop. it is my favorite part because i think that is a very rough childhood and funny if you look back at it.
i think gary Soto wants the reader to know what he went through all his life and how it was hard and poor class childhood. and that the relationship with your family is very important. Also that life gets harder as you get older we need to learn how to independent.
One of the problems occurs in the book is that Soto runs away from home and lives on the streets. The conflict is resolved when he gets a job at the valley Tire Factory, a tire shop in Glendale, California He eventually finds a place to live by renting a room from a family that argued often. The resolution to the conflict shows the reader that Soto becomes independent.
My favorite part of the book was when Soto describes his childhood when he and his friends would always have fights and someone would always get hurt and cry thats when they would stop. it is my favorite part because i think that is a very rough childhood and funny if you look back at it.
i think gary Soto wants the reader to know what he went through all his life and how it was hard and poor class childhood. and that the relationship with your family is very important. Also that life gets harder as you get older we need to learn how to independent.
January 24, 2014
Living Up The Street
by gary soto
I recently read living up the street by Gary Soto. it is a story about Gary soto's life, who is a mexican american living fresno, California. in the book, soto writes about his childhood experiences, his family, his work encounters, poverty, and his love life. some of the characters are debra, rick and his mother.
One of the problems that arises in the story is that soto becomes homeless when he runs away from home. the conflict is resolved when he finds a job at the valley tire factory, a tire shop in glendale, california. he finally finds a place to stay after having to stay by renting a room from a middle aged couple.
my favorite part of the book was when he got the job a the YMCA. i liked it because he had fun with the kids every day and brought the kids things like arts and crafts and the kids liked him too. and he did it for no pay.
I think gary soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to succeed in life. he also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor, but you still enjoy life. in my opinion, the book living up the street, was badly made. the plot was all over the place, and it skipped a lot of years in the end he goes from 17 to 60 and went from having nothing to having everything. i would recommend this book to all people.
by gary soto
I recently read living up the street by Gary Soto. it is a story about Gary soto's life, who is a mexican american living fresno, California. in the book, soto writes about his childhood experiences, his family, his work encounters, poverty, and his love life. some of the characters are debra, rick and his mother.
One of the problems that arises in the story is that soto becomes homeless when he runs away from home. the conflict is resolved when he finds a job at the valley tire factory, a tire shop in glendale, california. he finally finds a place to stay after having to stay by renting a room from a middle aged couple.
my favorite part of the book was when he got the job a the YMCA. i liked it because he had fun with the kids every day and brought the kids things like arts and crafts and the kids liked him too. and he did it for no pay.
I think gary soto wants readers to know that everyone should work hard to be able to succeed in life. he also wants readers to know that life is difficult when one is poor, but you still enjoy life. in my opinion, the book living up the street, was badly made. the plot was all over the place, and it skipped a lot of years in the end he goes from 17 to 60 and went from having nothing to having everything. i would recommend this book to all people.
November 17, 2010
This book by Gary Soto is an okay book. At first I thought this book would be a really interesting book because he was a popular author and I heard him like everywhere. This book is about Gary Soto's childhood. What I learn from this book is that Gary Soto is half Mexican and half American and he grew up in Fresno, California. In the book, I learn that Gary Soto set up a beauty contest for his little brother. In his school, only girls could enter a beauty contest so he set up his own for boys. that idea was created when Gary was just only five years old. He is a smart kid in the book. He dressed up his little brother in his clothes and tell him how to catwalk. He sees movies on girls how they catwalk. Gary is a very playful character. He would play with his friends and his sister, Debra. They would trick people around their neighborhood. This book's theme is like same religion. In Gar's neighborhood, there's only Mexicans. What I don't like about this book is that it keeps on talking about Mexicans all the time. You could see that the cover is full of Mexicans doing fun, traditional activities. It didn't have any problem in the book. It dosen't grab reader's attention. That's why I say it is a okay book.
March 12, 2014
To be honest this is my second book I've read by Gary Soto and I'm not that big of a fan. The book is about a young mexican boy that lives in Barrio and attends a parochial school, church and public summer school, for extra help. Unfortunately he is currently trying to get out of a relationship with his girlfriend so he can focus more on baseball. He lives with both his parents and brothers and sister and throughout the book he stresses on how his siblings are constantly mean to him. But he doesn't really pay much attention to it. The book is mainly about the journey of soto and how his life was. I felt it was some what interesting but not really. I don't have much i like about it other then him telling his life in great details. I feel he should have made it a little interesting by having use wonder whats coming next and "ooooohhhh I cant wait to read the next page". But instead it was simple and straight to the point. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about peoples life.
April 30, 2014
The book is a collection of short stories based on Gary Soto’s childhood. He is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California and they stories tell of his experiences with friends, family, mischief and rebellion, and work. He is a young boy very focused on baseball and has lot of opinions on his parents and siblings. Soto plays with the emotion of the readers, to portray his journey through life. It was an interesting outlook on Soto’s life and I appreciated that he placed himself in a character, but brought realistic stories in. In addition, I believe it would be a great read to put in a classroom because it will show a more creative spin on autobiographies. It will also teach students about a different culture so it adds in a multicultural perspective as well. Having both the realistic experience brings a reality to the multicultural aspect and show children how some people lived their daily lives.
April 26, 2008
"Perhaps the most enjoyable summer day was when Rick, Debra and I decided to burn down our house."
Gary Soto's slice-of-life tales of growing up in a barrio in Fresno, California are poignant in their matter-of-fact storytelling. Although desperately poor, he lives life like any kid - full of small adventures, grand triumphs and disappointing defeats. From failed little league tryouts to fights (both won and lost) to girls, the stories here are about the joys of being alive, wrinkles and all.
I really enjoyed this one. The author is primarily known for his children's books, but he has also written several full-length novels and volumes of poetry. In "Living Up the Street," his background as a poet shines through. The writing flows simply and beautifully, capturing idyllic summer days and projecting shimmering images from a bygone era.
--Ian
Gary Soto's slice-of-life tales of growing up in a barrio in Fresno, California are poignant in their matter-of-fact storytelling. Although desperately poor, he lives life like any kid - full of small adventures, grand triumphs and disappointing defeats. From failed little league tryouts to fights (both won and lost) to girls, the stories here are about the joys of being alive, wrinkles and all.
I really enjoyed this one. The author is primarily known for his children's books, but he has also written several full-length novels and volumes of poetry. In "Living Up the Street," his background as a poet shines through. The writing flows simply and beautifully, capturing idyllic summer days and projecting shimmering images from a bygone era.
--Ian
December 20, 2012
Good book. I really liked how many emotions the Gary Soto incorporated into the book. The emotions felt real, and were probably real. The path the author went down to end as a writer was amazing to read about because he started as a poor kid who got bad grades. It was really sad how he was doing hard labor jobs at age 17 while being homeless and sleeping in churches. The Memoir gave me a very important lesson, which was that there is a way to change your life.
I loved how the author only told the parts of his life that had meaning and lessons. The parts that he chose were not boring parts of his life, but things that were important to his childhood. I thought that Soto could explained more about how he went from a laborer to a writer though. I liked how the book taught me many things as if it was non-fiction.
I loved how the author only told the parts of his life that had meaning and lessons. The parts that he chose were not boring parts of his life, but things that were important to his childhood. I thought that Soto could explained more about how he went from a laborer to a writer though. I liked how the book taught me many things as if it was non-fiction.
April 30, 2014
Gary Soto is a Mexican-American living in Fresno, California. I recently read Living Up the Street by Gary Soto and this book tells the stories of his childhood experiences with friends, family, mischief and rebellion, and work. When reading this you see the point of view from a young Mexican-American boy in the world of growing up and going somewhere. It is from the opinion or viewpoint of the boy growing up in the industrial side of Fresno. This book of poetry brings us to see the hardships that those of his race have gone through, and even the laughter and fun they had growing up at that time. I couldn’t decide how I felt about the book and Gary Soto’s writing style. It’s nice that he incorporates his history and how he was raised but at the same time it gets somewhat repetitive.
April 3, 2015
I wouldn't necessarily pick up this book as an entertaining read, but it is an interesting collection of insights into the life of Gary Soto and lives of many immigrants growing up in the US. I have to give credit to Soto's writing skills. The events that he writes about aren't necessarily fascinating or humorous; however, his use of figurative language, imagery, and commentary makes those events interesting and enjoyable to read about. It's hard to rate stories about someone's life because I feel like I'm judging the life, but looking at this simply as a piece of literature, the story isn't that compelling, but the writing style compelled me to read on and mostly enjoy what I was reading.
May 26, 2012
This was one of the most poignant books I've ever read. My introduction to chicano literature. Growing up in California, and having been to Fresno, it opened up a new world to me. I could relate, but I could also imagine. His imagery is so gritty and realistic; bitterweet yet silky smooth. I felt a part of the culture. I desired to grow up in his world, yet hated it at the same time. It was loving, it was cruel. You have to read this book. It left me craving more chicano literature.
September 27, 2013
Really interesting book with the glimmerings of socioeconomic class and racial affairs in the background of a boy's rough and ready life. It's interesting that you get some of the sense of the other people in Gary'a autobiography, but some are barely there, like the younger brother and the stepfather not at all. The autobiography concentrating on mostly a child's experience is pretty interesting.
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