 | | | | Local News |  | Author: Gary Soto
Publisher: Topeka Bindery
Category: Book
List Price: $15.25
Buy New: $8.00
You Save: $7.25 (48%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (4 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3269196
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: School & Library Binding
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0613599098
EAN: 9780613599092
ASIN: 0613599098
Publication Date: July 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In thirteen stories full of wit and energy, Gary Soto illuminates the ordinary lives of young people. Meet Angel, who would rather fork over twenty bucks than have photos of his naked body plastered all over school; Philip, who discovers he has a "mechanical mind," whatever that means; Estela, known as Stinger, who rules Jose's heart and the racquetball court; and many other kids, all of them with problems as big as only a preteen can make them.
Funny, touching, and wholly original, Local News is Gary Soto in top form.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A great book told from a refreshingly different perspective September 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is so very difficult to find books that Latino youth can relate to. The short stories in this book give the reader a glimpse into life in immigrant communities without harping on problems. I brought a copy of this book into my sixth grade class last year and it changed many of my students' perspectives on reading. Many of them read a chapter book for the first time in their lives, and continued reading for pleasure for the rest of the year. I will never forget the looks of surprise on their faces when I read a chapter out loud. They were in shock that there were books in which the characters talked like their families and dealt with subject matter they encountered in their lives. They gobbled up (and fought over) every Gary Soto book I brought into the classroom from then on, and eventually became interested in reading a wide variety of books. Their end of year exam scores improved dramatically, and I believe that at least some of this improvement was because of this book.
While there are some good children's books that touch on the experiences of immigrants and Chicanos, they usually just include characters named "Pedro" and toss in a few Spanish words. By unapologetically including Chicano slang and themes common in immigrant communities, this book validates the existence of young Latinos/Chicanos/Mexicanos and gives them a reason to WANT to read. While it does not fill it completely, it begins to fill a tremendous gap that exists in children's literature. Every 5th grade+ literature teacher working with Latino children should definitely have at least one copy in their classroom libraries. Even non-Latinos should enjoy Soto's entertaining method of telling stories.
 Local News Review January 24, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
In Local News, each chapter is a different story, where each main character has a different message to tell. Although the messages are pretty clear, some you have to do a little thinking for .It's like each chapter is a mini story.
Some of the more interesting stories are: "Blackmail", " The Raiders Jacket", " The Mechanical Mind",and " New Year's Eve.
In Blackmail, a boy named Angel was innocently taking a shower after a hard day of playing baseball in 90 degree heat in a Mexican American communtiy in Fresno. It doesn't seem all that dangerous, but when you have an evil older brother, who has years of a mean streak, every shower is potentially rep-threatening. When his brother( cleverly nicknamed Weasel)snapshots him naked in the shower, and threatens to use it as Blackmail, Angel will literally give his right arm to get it back.
In the Raider's Jacket, a girl named Lorena livs in Fresno with her BFF, Guadalupe. Lorena likes this guy named Eddie, and aparently, he likes her too! She knows this because he gave her his jacket. Lorena is too busy day-dreaming in Biology, that she accidentally leaves the Raider's Jacket there over the weekend! When she returns for it, i tis gone! This starts the beginning of a frantic chase to get the prized jacket back.
In the Mechanical Mind, a guy in Fresno(in case you haven't figured out that they all take place in Fresno)named Phil thinks he has a mechanical mind when he goes on a winning streak of fixing things. But does he know that he is a little too ahead of his game?
In all, this book was ok, not great but not horrible.It was short, easy reading at about a 5th of 6th grade level.
Local News December 1, 2000
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Recently, I gained the privilege to read a book that was written by Gary Soto. The book that I read was entitled, Local News. Throughout this short book, Gary describes 11 different situations that are common for teenagers growing up in Hispanic neighborhoods. I will give a brief, yet detailed description of five of my favorite stories.Chapter #1: Blackmail Blackmail was about a dispute between two teenage brothers. The setting takes place in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood located in California. Angel, who was the younger brother, found himself being picked on by his older brother named Javier. (Javier's nickname was Weasel) One day while Angel was taking a shower, Weasel snuck into the bathroom and took a picture of Angel, who obviously was bare-naked. Weasel threatened to show the picture to all of the girls at school if he did not give him $20.00. Angel, who was extremely angry yelled, `You punk, I'm going to get you!' His threat was worthless though. His older brother had absolutely no fear of him. Angel was very nervous because he didn't have $20.00 to give him, nor would he want to waste that much money on such a stupid joke. Finally, when Weasel realized that Angel wasn't capable of paying the ransom, he forced him to do his chores instead. Although Angel resented doing his brother's chores, he accepted the job. In the end, Weasel began to feel sorry for his younger brother and gave him the picture back. Chapter #3: First Job This chapter was about a 13-year-old boy named Alex. The setting took place on a hot summer day. Alex, who was the main character, had an older brother and sister and one younger brother. Both of his older siblings had jobs and were making money, which made Alex jealous. One day, Alex was asked to rake and burn some leaves for a woman named Mrs. Martinez. She offered him one dollar therefore he accepted the job. After Alex was finished raking the leaves in a pile, he lit a match and started the pile on fire. Just then, he realized that he had left his younger brother alone at home. Therefore, he decided to run home to make sure he was content. While he was away from the fire, it spread to Mrs. Martinez's deck. This event added some suspense to the story. When Alex returned to her house, a neighbor was already there and had the fire under control. Due to the fire, Mrs. Martinez was very angry and refused to pay Alex for the job. Unfortunately, that was Alex's first experience of having a job. Chapter #4: El radio This chapter was about two teenage girls who had a small party together. The event took place in Patricia's home on a Friday night; her parents were not home. The other character, who was named Melinda, came over to listen to the radio with Patricia. As the two girls listened to the radio, they started to act crazy. Consequently, they spilled a bucket of popcorn and made a mess. When their parents returned home they were angry with the two girls. Finally, the girls were able to cheer up their parents by doing something very unique. You will have to read the story to discover what happened. This chapter possessed an exiting theme because it described the friendship of two girls. Chapter #5: Push-up Push-up was the name of Carmen's new kitten. Carmen was a young girl living in a Spanish-American community. Her new kitten was very cute and was always receiving the family's attention. That made their other cat jealous. Therefore, it always fought with Push-up. One day, Carmen brought her kitten to school with her to protect him from the other cat. I thought that was an extremely risky idea. Therefore, I feel that this story contained a high level of suspense. When she and her kitten arrived at school, she secretly placed it in the ball container. Carmen felt bad for the kitten and said, `It will be ok, it is for your own good.' As the day passed by, Carmen struggled keeping the kitten a secret. In order to learn what happened to her and her cat, I suggest that you read this story. Chapter #10: Nickel-A-Pound Plane Ride The main character of this story was Araceli. Araceli was a twelve-year-old with skin the color of brown sugar. Her dream was to fly in an airplane. One day, she finally got her chance. When she climbed into the plane's passenger area, she noticed that the engine was very loud. Therefore, she became a little nervous. As the plane began to take off, she became even more nervous when it rocked back and forth. She gradually began to feel unsafe. After the ride was over, she realized that flying was not all that she hoped it would be. The theme of this story was sad. The setting was on a cold rainy day, which gave the story a gloomy effect. When Araceli realized that she did not like flying, I was disappointed because it was her dream to fly. After reading Local News by Gary Soto, I now have a better understanding of what a typical teenager's life was like in Spanish-American communities. Although this book was simple and easy to read, I feel that I have benefited from reading it because Gary Soto did an outstanding job of displaying each character's styles and traits in their everyday environment. If you are interested in learning about Spanish-American communities, I recommend reading this book.
a good book overall but with an intended audience April 23, 2000
5 out of 13 found this review helpful
I read "Local News" for my college Children's Literature course. The teacher assigned it for the week on multi-cultural literature. The book itself was okay, but I believe it has a limited audience. Gary Soto wrote the book for two purposes. One was to show everyone that Mexican-American children are really no different than any other children. The second was to provide Mexican-American children with literature that contained Mexican-American characters, kids that they felt they could relate to. So, in that aspect, it was a good book. I would highly recommend it to anyone specifically looking for Mexican-American characters or for any parents or teachers looking to teach their children and students about kids in other cultures and to broaden their horizons.
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