Buried Onions by Gary Soto

Soto, Gary. Buried Onions. San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1997.

Summary

Eddie is a Mexican-American living in Fresno. His cousin Jesus was recently killed and now Jesus' friend Angel wants Eddie to help him take revenge. Jesus' mom even gave Angel a gun to do it. Eddie, a community college drop out, is mostly alone in his desire to stay out of trouble, except for the Coach from the rec center. Eddie makes money painting addresses on curbs and doing handyman work. Eddie is working for a white man who asks Eddie to drive a truckload of garbage to the dump. Eddie does, then swings by his apartment to drop something off. In the five minutes Eddie is inside the white man's truck is stolen and he accuses Eddie of stealing it. Eddie's friend Jose is home on leave from the marines and Eddie is thinking that Jose was lucky to have left town. Sadly, in the few days that Jose is in Fresno, he gets knifed in a parking lot. Eddie doesn't want to be a gangster but everywhere there is crime, poverty and desperation.

Critical Evaluation

The characters of this story describe a community. Eddie's former classmates are now dead, in jail or headed for jail. His mother tries to set him up with a nice girl who "only has one kid". Eddie is a good kid desperate to get out and do well with his life, but the odds are against him. Soto describes the problems that one must overcome to rise out of the ghetto. Told from the inside of the community this is a grisly yet authentic tale about an underrepresented group.

Reader's Annotation

Eddie doesn't want violence but as a young Mexican-American living in Fresno he can't escape it. His father, his best friend, and his cousin are all dead. Now his aunt can't understand why he doesn't want to avenge his cousin's death.

Genre and Subject

Realistic fiction. Latino interest, poverty

Bibliotherapuetic Usefulness

This is a realistic, if sad, depiction of a community that is underrepresented in literature. It gives young Latinos characters that they can identify with.

Why I chose it

This is an often recommended book that I felt I should read. I'm glad I did because the short descriptions don't do it justice. This title is about experiencing the day to day feelings of typical life more than it is driven by any plot device.