Buried Onions
by Gary Soto
Soto, Gary. Buried Onions. San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace, 1997. Print. ISBN-13: 978-0064407717; Hardcover $15.19
Overview
Author Gary Soto was born and raised in Fresno, California so it’s no surprise that he writes a story of a nineteen year old Hispanic youth named Eddie, stuck in the tough barrios of Fresno where violence, murder, and gangs seem like the only way of life. Young Eddie can find no direction in his life, his father, and cousin have been murdered in the streets, and he is haunted by his own Aunt who prods and pleads him to revenge her son’s (cousins) death by killing his murderer. Eddie is trapped in a city of sorrow and poverty with little chance of escape. No matter how hard he tries to do well and
build a life for himself and climb out of the city, he is dragged down by the violence and sorrow that suffocates him like a giant onion buried beneath the city making everyone in the city weep and cry.
build a life for himself and climb out of the city, he is dragged down by the violence and sorrow that suffocates him like a giant onion buried beneath the city making everyone in the city weep and cry.
The main character Eddie, is easy to like. Eddie is a good kid that shows a lot of courage, trying to escape the gang life and violence that surrounds him. It shows how difficult it really is to escape an environment one has grown up in and a young reader who might need direction in their own life or are experiencing similar life struggles could very easily relate to this book.
Reviews
Soto's descriptions are poetic, and he creates deep feelings of heat and despair. A powerful and thought-provoking read. - Mary M. Hopf, Los Angeles Public Library
The lyrical language and Spanish phrases add to the immediacy of setting and to the sensitivity the author brings to his character's life. Buried Onions is Soto's best fiction yet. Especially recommended to teen readers who enjoyed Walter Dean Myers's Scorpions (Harper, 1988) or Jes Mowry's Way Past Cool (Farrar, 1992). VOYA Codes: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written, Broad general YA appeal, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12). - Katie O'Dell Madison, VOYA