Junior College

by Gary Soto

National Book Award finalist Gary Soto presents a collection of forty new poems that will bring a wry smile of recognition to anyone who endured the angst, anxiety, and misguided realities of childhood and adolescence. Here are poems about the mixed joys of owning a dog who is so obviously inferior to all others in the neighborhood; about the blessings of knowing Italian (thus becoming closer to the Pope and, hence, salvation); and about Soto's years attending junior college during the early '70s in search of truth (wisdom not being possible). The work of America's foremost Chicano poet resonates with the comic and the deadpan, and with a rare understanding that transcends the ordinary while remaining true to the heart.

Genres: Poetry

89 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1997

About the author

Gary 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.

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of poetry details the experiences of a poor, dreamy kid growing up from a child to young adult. It's the thinking-finding-oneself-figuring out years that everyone goes through told honestly. My personal favorites are the ones in which Gary feels out of place in both the academic and family circles. This is probably because I'm in the post-graduate group myself and am trying to do it all--husband, career, possibly mother, etc.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems deal with college and the experiences people go through at that age. Another book where I marked a lot of poems to go back to.

[Dan]

Not digging Gary's flavor. He seems to remind me of someone I don't like.

Reading good poetry is always good for the noggin, though.

[Shayla Anderson]

Gary Soto provides yet another amazing set of up to 40 poems in the book Junior College. The author still writes about things that he has experienced while growing up but this time instead these sets of poems were about his time in Junior college during the 70’s. This book with the 40 new poems can be directed to another reader who is around the age, or actually in Junior College. The author uses his sets of poetry books to different parts of his life, but contain poems about things that he has all actually experienced. I think that this is a really cool idea for an author to do especially with the type of books that are only poetry based. I would bring a set of Gary Soto books in my classroom to leave in my own personal library in the classroom. Since I want to teach younger children I would most likely read the poetry book by Gary Soto that fit more with my students but I would also add this book, and other poetry books to my classroom for those students who really enjoy poetry.