What do you think?
Rate this book
Seventh Grade
Unknown Binding
12 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Gary Soto
135 books246 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Read
May 1, 2017Many things have changed about seventh grade since Soto wrote this story. Cultural touchstones are very different, the structure of middle school has changed drastically by now (and had even changed a lot by the time I was in middle school myself.) However, certain things haven't changed: students are still trying on many different actions and personalities, trying to discover their real identity. Some of these things they try on will indeed be cringeworthy and some of these things will be very dishonest. Sometimes the students might even be self-aware enough to notice that, but sometimes they won't. The process of discovering your identity be trying new ones on like a mall fitting room is a process any middle school student will be familiar with, and I expect that not to change for many years to come.
I would like to have students do two versions of Gallagher's "Sometimes You Can Judge A Book By Its Cover" prompt. The first one, which will be more of a quick-write, would be to pick one of the main characters from "Seventh Grade" and write about something this person wears or does in an attempt to broadcast who they are. After they've warmed up doing that and practiced applying it, I will have them do the same thing about themselves in a longer form. One such goal here is to help make my students more self-aware of the identities they try on and how others around them perceive them when they do so.
I would like to have students do two versions of Gallagher's "Sometimes You Can Judge A Book By Its Cover" prompt. The first one, which will be more of a quick-write, would be to pick one of the main characters from "Seventh Grade" and write about something this person wears or does in an attempt to broadcast who they are. After they've warmed up doing that and practiced applying it, I will have them do the same thing about themselves in a longer form. One such goal here is to help make my students more self-aware of the identities they try on and how others around them perceive them when they do so.
Read
May 7, 2020This short story about a seventh grade boy, Victor, who has a crush on a girl in his grade, Teresa. He tries to impress her in a few different ways throughout the story. This relates to the concept of relationships in a more literal sense. This story shows the relationship between Victor and Teresa and the things he does because he likes her. It also shows the relationship between Victor and his French Teacher who decided to keep silent knowing that Victor was trying to impress Teresa. Finally, this is a good piece to explore the relationship between the reader and the characters because the students are the same age as the characters.
This story relates to the students for that same reason. Because the students are the same age as the Characters in the book it is very easy for the students to be engaged in the events of the story. The students most likely know how Victor or Teresa is feeling so it is easy for them to invest in the story and the characters.
This text would be a great text to model one of Spandel’s 6 traits, word choice. The writer uses culture/ language specific words like ese and saludo de vato in the narrative to support the character’s cultural background. By choosing Spanish words to incorporate into the text the writer allows the reader to understand the character better.
One strategy that would work well with this short story is From Spandel’s Chapter on word Choice. Students can take a piece of writing they have done and go back through the piece looking for ways to make the words they choose to use more meaningful. Students will be able to look back at Gary Soto’s “Seventh Grade” for inspiration on how to improve theirs.
This story relates to the students for that same reason. Because the students are the same age as the Characters in the book it is very easy for the students to be engaged in the events of the story. The students most likely know how Victor or Teresa is feeling so it is easy for them to invest in the story and the characters.
This text would be a great text to model one of Spandel’s 6 traits, word choice. The writer uses culture/ language specific words like ese and saludo de vato in the narrative to support the character’s cultural background. By choosing Spanish words to incorporate into the text the writer allows the reader to understand the character better.
One strategy that would work well with this short story is From Spandel’s Chapter on word Choice. Students can take a piece of writing they have done and go back through the piece looking for ways to make the words they choose to use more meaningful. Students will be able to look back at Gary Soto’s “Seventh Grade” for inspiration on how to improve theirs.
Read
May 11, 2020Gary Soto’s short story “Seventh Grade” illustrates how a boy Victor tries to earn the affection of his middle school crush, Teresa. Victor attempts multiple times throughout the story to impress Teresa in many different ways depicted through descriptive language used throughout Victor’s internal monologue in the text. More than trying to win the girl of his dreams, Victor is also anxious about his transition from sixth to seventh grade and the new environments he is experiencing as he is growing up. While at first Victor tries to be someone who he’s not by using superficial tactics to impress Teresa, at the end of the story Victor is confident enough to be himself with Teresa and she accepts him for who he is.
This short story relates to the struggles of navigating the transitioning stages of adolescence that students experience during their time in middle school. Middle schoolers feel the need to live up to the expectations of their peers and what they see on social media, and often times pretend to be someone they aren’t in order to be accepted by those around them. This story emphasizes how even though Victor was confused about his identity, he found the confidence discover who he was and to express his true self to those around him. Once Victor was brave enough to share his voice with Teresa, she was willing to embrace him for who he really was.
For instructional use, this short story would be a great model text for two Spandel’s six writing traits, voice and word choice. Victor’s internal monologue throughout the story and how he both thoroughly and vividly depicts the ways in which he tries to impress Teresa to win her love, provide the reader vivid imagery and a clear individual voice that prompts a connection between the real world and story world for middle school students that can resonate with these experiences. This allows students to see how they can use their unique individual voices in their own writing to influence readers of their work and share their experiences and ideas with the world. The text also features language specific to the cultural background of the main character and to the setting of a French classroom. This text can be used to as a model for students how specific words can be used to develop more about a character or story’s background, and how intentional word choice can make a text more meaningful. Students could use these two models to revise first drafts of their writing to make edits that have the intent of a strong voice and intentional and meaningful word choice to add to their works.
This short story relates to the struggles of navigating the transitioning stages of adolescence that students experience during their time in middle school. Middle schoolers feel the need to live up to the expectations of their peers and what they see on social media, and often times pretend to be someone they aren’t in order to be accepted by those around them. This story emphasizes how even though Victor was confused about his identity, he found the confidence discover who he was and to express his true self to those around him. Once Victor was brave enough to share his voice with Teresa, she was willing to embrace him for who he really was.
For instructional use, this short story would be a great model text for two Spandel’s six writing traits, voice and word choice. Victor’s internal monologue throughout the story and how he both thoroughly and vividly depicts the ways in which he tries to impress Teresa to win her love, provide the reader vivid imagery and a clear individual voice that prompts a connection between the real world and story world for middle school students that can resonate with these experiences. This allows students to see how they can use their unique individual voices in their own writing to influence readers of their work and share their experiences and ideas with the world. The text also features language specific to the cultural background of the main character and to the setting of a French classroom. This text can be used to as a model for students how specific words can be used to develop more about a character or story’s background, and how intentional word choice can make a text more meaningful. Students could use these two models to revise first drafts of their writing to make edits that have the intent of a strong voice and intentional and meaningful word choice to add to their works.
September 30, 2024
Victor is such a goofball. Enough said.
Read
April 30, 2020Gary Soto's short story Seventh Grade is about a middle school boy's crush and how he tries to get her attention. The main character, Victor, and his friend, Michael, talk about girls, how to get their attention, and school. Victor's thoughts are occupied by his crush, Teresa. He internally questions his interactions with her and the things he could do to get her attention. The descriptive language is distinctive and captivating. Victor is struggling to define himself as he seeks the attention of the girl he likes. He tries to act cool and be someone he is not in order to impress her.
Adolescence is a time of crushes and young love. Middle school students are daily attempting to impress their crushes and pretend to be cooler than they are. They try to puff up parts of their identity while hiding other parts. This story is set on the first day of seventh grade. It is humorous and would be relatable to middle school students. As a result, Soto's short story would be perfect to use in the middle school classroom when studying identity.
Using this short story instructionally, I think it offers middle school students a lot to think about. This short story is very relatable for students, so I would use it as a model text for students to think about a time in their life when they were trying to impress someone. Students could write about trying to impress a teacher, a parent, a crush, or even themselves. Because the text is short and descriptive, middle school students could use this text to try to enhance their writing skills.
Adolescence is a time of crushes and young love. Middle school students are daily attempting to impress their crushes and pretend to be cooler than they are. They try to puff up parts of their identity while hiding other parts. This story is set on the first day of seventh grade. It is humorous and would be relatable to middle school students. As a result, Soto's short story would be perfect to use in the middle school classroom when studying identity.
Using this short story instructionally, I think it offers middle school students a lot to think about. This short story is very relatable for students, so I would use it as a model text for students to think about a time in their life when they were trying to impress someone. Students could write about trying to impress a teacher, a parent, a crush, or even themselves. Because the text is short and descriptive, middle school students could use this text to try to enhance their writing skills.
October 18, 2017
DO NOT READ. This is a terrible book that made me cringe throughout. Reading this pile of garbage was like shoving a lemon down my throat with the juice squeezing out of it. There is no action whatsoever, and the character development is very weak. I never even got to know what the characters looked like! And let's be honest, Victor wasn't paying attention to "how gracefully Teresa walked." We all know that he was paying attention to dat booty. You know how there's the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution? Well, this story was the falling action throughout, digging a tunnel so deep that it went straight through to the other end of the Earth. I give this lemon pile a 1/10! An absolute EPIC FAIL. Don't fall into this trap and waste 10 minutes of your life reading this stupid thing.
May 29, 2018
Seventh Grade by Gary Soto is a story about teenage boy Victor who fell in love with his classmate - a girl Teresa. The author chose a deliberately simple style of writing according to the age of two main characters in the story. At the beginning of the story, Victor selected French as a foreign language for studying because, "... it was cool ... there were rivers in France, and huge churches, and fair-skinned people everywhere ...". Besides, Teresa, a girl he liked, took French, too.
The story begins with the classmates meeting after summer vacation before starting the seventh grade in school. The boys talked about appearance, how to make a good impression for girls. One boy - Michael said that, "... his face had changed during the summer. He had read a GQ5 magazine that his older brother had borrowed from the Book Mobile and noticed that the male models all had the same look on their faces. They would stand, one arm around a beautiful woman, and scowl." Michael believed that it worked because as he said, "Belinda Reyes walked by a while ago and looked at me”.
The main character- Victor thought that it was superficial but nevertheless he tried to make the same expression. He noticed that the girl, who walked past him, looked at him. Umm, he thought, maybe it does work.
During the French class, Victor thought about Teresa and when the teacher asked the students to give examples of nouns in French, Victor automatically said, "Teresa". "Some of the girls giggled. They knew he had a crush on Teresa. He felt himself blushing ...".
There are few more situations where Victor embarrasses himself in front of Teresa. The story has a happy ending. Teresa asked Victor to help her with her French. They said, “Bonjour” to each other. The last line of the story,
"He was going to like seventh grade."
Good reading for the positive emotions!
This is a link to the original text of the story:
https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/wp-...
The story begins with the classmates meeting after summer vacation before starting the seventh grade in school. The boys talked about appearance, how to make a good impression for girls. One boy - Michael said that, "... his face had changed during the summer. He had read a GQ5 magazine that his older brother had borrowed from the Book Mobile and noticed that the male models all had the same look on their faces. They would stand, one arm around a beautiful woman, and scowl." Michael believed that it worked because as he said, "Belinda Reyes walked by a while ago and looked at me”.
The main character- Victor thought that it was superficial but nevertheless he tried to make the same expression. He noticed that the girl, who walked past him, looked at him. Umm, he thought, maybe it does work.
During the French class, Victor thought about Teresa and when the teacher asked the students to give examples of nouns in French, Victor automatically said, "Teresa". "Some of the girls giggled. They knew he had a crush on Teresa. He felt himself blushing ...".
There are few more situations where Victor embarrasses himself in front of Teresa. The story has a happy ending. Teresa asked Victor to help her with her French. They said, “Bonjour” to each other. The last line of the story,
"He was going to like seventh grade."
Good reading for the positive emotions!
This is a link to the original text of the story:
https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/wp-...
May 30, 2020
"Seventh Grade" is a popular short story selection for middle school educators and students.
The story focuses on the main character, Victor, a Spanish catholic boy, Victor’s interest in Teresa, a girl he had liked since catechism class, Victor’s friend, Michael, an important influence in Victor’s life, and how the seventh grade school experience changes Victor’s world view.
Seventh grade is a new beginning for Victor, where he can reintroduce himself to Teresa, who has not reciprocated Victor’s interest in past years. Victor is going to be more like Michael by making his interest in Teresa more obvious than subtle. This tactic is effective on the catholic schoolgirl, and, while Victor does not know the exact recitations that Teresa wants to hear, Teresa does make plans to spend more time with Victor.
Victor’s interests in other subjects, such as metal shop and biology, has a somewhat anticlimactic or diminishing effect to his success in attracting the long desired Teresa, but may be instrumental in that end. The final line of the short story, “He was going to like seventh grade” is significant in that it explicates Victor’s coming and long-awaited success; however, the not strongly referenced pronoun can also be interpreted as a different person, as is often done in the catholic religion, and it could refer to Victor’s school efforts being defeated at a religious level, as foreshadowed by the line imagining “Teresa’s house with a kitchen full of big brothers.”
The story focuses on the main character, Victor, a Spanish catholic boy, Victor’s interest in Teresa, a girl he had liked since catechism class, Victor’s friend, Michael, an important influence in Victor’s life, and how the seventh grade school experience changes Victor’s world view.
Seventh grade is a new beginning for Victor, where he can reintroduce himself to Teresa, who has not reciprocated Victor’s interest in past years. Victor is going to be more like Michael by making his interest in Teresa more obvious than subtle. This tactic is effective on the catholic schoolgirl, and, while Victor does not know the exact recitations that Teresa wants to hear, Teresa does make plans to spend more time with Victor.
Victor’s interests in other subjects, such as metal shop and biology, has a somewhat anticlimactic or diminishing effect to his success in attracting the long desired Teresa, but may be instrumental in that end. The final line of the short story, “He was going to like seventh grade” is significant in that it explicates Victor’s coming and long-awaited success; however, the not strongly referenced pronoun can also be interpreted as a different person, as is often done in the catholic religion, and it could refer to Victor’s school efforts being defeated at a religious level, as foreshadowed by the line imagining “Teresa’s house with a kitchen full of big brothers.”
May 3, 2019
In this sweet short story, Gary Soto sets up a sweet seventh grade crush where Victor wants nothing more but to be with Teresa, the girl he has liked for what seems like forever. In between transitioning into seventh grade classes and feeling goofy more often than not, Victor is trying to find his footing in his new environment.
This will surely hit home to middle school classes reading this short story. The nervousness, the adjustment to new classes and teachers, and the experience of new feelings for the first time both describes this story and the standard middle school experience. Seeeing themselves reflected in what they are reading helps connect students to the story and increases their retention of content.
I think Gallgher's What Are Your Dreams? would work very well with this story. In the short story, Victor laments how his dreams at the moment are just to succeed in French and get Teresa's attention. This can be modified for the classroom to be relatable to the text by prompting your students to think about what their dreams for the school year are, just as Victor reflected upon himself.
This will surely hit home to middle school classes reading this short story. The nervousness, the adjustment to new classes and teachers, and the experience of new feelings for the first time both describes this story and the standard middle school experience. Seeeing themselves reflected in what they are reading helps connect students to the story and increases their retention of content.
I think Gallgher's What Are Your Dreams? would work very well with this story. In the short story, Victor laments how his dreams at the moment are just to succeed in French and get Teresa's attention. This can be modified for the classroom to be relatable to the text by prompting your students to think about what their dreams for the school year are, just as Victor reflected upon himself.
August 14, 2024
Seventh Grade is a great short story by Gary Soto that can be related to any middle schooler. This story is about a seventh grader Victor, and first day of school. During this first day of school, Victor is trying everything he can to impress a girl, Theresa. This short story follows him and his silly mistakes he makes while trying to impress her. I love this story because I feel as though every student can relate to the story of having a crush on someone and then making silly choices to try and get their attention when they’re young.
I believe this can be taught as a good story for any middle school grade, especially seventh grade because that’s the title of the story. Students can analyze and make text to world and text to text connections where they feel they can relate, or at least know somebody who relates.
I believe this can be taught as a good story for any middle school grade, especially seventh grade because that’s the title of the story. Students can analyze and make text to world and text to text connections where they feel they can relate, or at least know somebody who relates.
November 30, 2018
This short story is a good length to teach because it is very short. I was able to read it in about 10 minutes. The story is about a boy navigating his first day of seventh grade in Fresno, CA and the girl he has a crush on. Even though some of the story elements may be foreign to students who don't live in farm country and some of the elements of Mexican culture may be inaccurate, I think it could still be of value to current 7th graders. I thought the story had just the right balance of humor as well and I found it to be really cute.
February 7, 2023
When teaching seventh grade, I would use this short story as a first day of school activity to practice annotating. This is a wonderful little story. There’s so many things you can do with it. It sparks great questions and conversation. Gary Soto is a wonderful author with diverse and relatable characters - especially for middle schoolers.
January 16, 2018
This story made me laugh. 5 stars.
March 30, 2021
I really like this book I think any who reads this should like it!
January 18, 2023
I didn’t really enjoy this story because there was no character development and action whatsoever…
September 11, 2023
Sweet coming of age short story where an embarrassing moment in 7th grade becomes one that shows the kindness of an empathetic teacher. (Read bc assigned to my 6th grader).
January 3, 2026
This is a very short story about Victor starting seventh grade. He has a crush on Teresa and tries to impress her several times throughout the day. One time he fails miserably attempting to speak French in front of the entire class just to catch Teresa's attention.
While this story is very simple, I did enjoy reading it. All of us can relate to having a crush in middle school. We may not want to admit this, but we have all embarrassed ourselves in front of our friends or crush before by lying about something or pretending to be someone else. This is a quick read that you can finish in one sitting and chuckle a little bit at the characters and in turn yourself.
While this story is very simple, I did enjoy reading it. All of us can relate to having a crush in middle school. We may not want to admit this, but we have all embarrassed ourselves in front of our friends or crush before by lying about something or pretending to be someone else. This is a quick read that you can finish in one sitting and chuckle a little bit at the characters and in turn yourself.
September 30, 2024
Re-Read 9/20/24 with my 7th Graders!
Read this with my 7th graders for our short story unit :) Good story, but in and of it's time. Need a better one for next year that they can relate to more.
Read this with my 7th graders for our short story unit :) Good story, but in and of it's time. Need a better one for next year that they can relate to more.
Read
April 28, 2017Seventh Grade is a short story by Gary Soto. It is told from a third-person limited point of view. The protagonist, Victor, spends his first day of seventh grade getting used to his new classes and trying to catch the eye of his crush, Teresa. He pretends to know French to impress her, and narrowly avoids embarrassing himself in front of the entire class. Because the story is told from the perspective of a seventh grader, middle-schoolers will be able to relate to this story strongly. Victor is also a Hispanic student at a predominantly Hispanic high school which influences the way he sees his new classes and his friends.
I would have my students use this as a model text and write their own short story about a time they have lied or done something foolish in order to prove themselves or impress someone else. Did it work out in the end or did they embarrass themselves?
I would have my students use this as a model text and write their own short story about a time they have lied or done something foolish in order to prove themselves or impress someone else. Did it work out in the end or did they embarrass themselves?
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews