In a prose that is so beautiful it is poetry, wesee the world of growing up and going somewherethrough the dust and heat of Fresno's industrialside and beyond: It is a boy's coming of age in thebarrio, parochial school, attending church, publicsummer school, and trying to fall out of love so hecan join in a Little League baseball team.His is a clarity that rings constantly through thewarmth and wry reality of these sometimeshumorous, sometimes tragic, always human remembrances.

Gary Soto has written six poetry collections, prose recollections, and several books of essays.His first young adult short story collection, Baseball in April and Other Stories, has been one of the most widely discussed and reviewed books of 1990.He is Associate Professor of Chicano Studies and English at the University of California, Berkeley.