Jesse

by Gary Soto

Book Overview

In this new edition of his first young adult novel, Gary Soto paints a moving portrait of seventeen-year-old Jesse, who has left his parents' home to live with his older brother. These Mexican American brothers hope junior college will help them escape their heritage of tedious physical labor. Their struggles are humorous, true to life, and deeply affecting. Young adults will sympathize with the brothers as they come to terms with what is possible...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152054251
• ISBN13: 9780152054250
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.9" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Summer Reading Assignment for my 8th Grader

This was a summer reading assignment for my daughter's 8th grade class for middle school. She said she liked it very much

Jesse

In the book Jesse by Gary Soto there are two boys, Able and Jesse. They have to chop cotton until they get better jobs. They make bad mistakes, but they fix them. They decided to chop cotton instead of becoming doctors. They were happy when their cousin, Leslie, came back from Vietnam. Able saw a girl named Glenda and fell in love. Glenda let him come in her house and then Abal saw a crib and said "Do you have a baby"? Then she said "Yes". Next, Able said "Oh". Then they became good friends. The book is good and tells that when you get older life is hard. It tells that sometimes what you think will happen does not come true when you're older.

One Dream Of Freedom

Jesse is a 17 teen year old man who just moved out with his older brother Abel. He is attending Fresno State University. Abel and Jesse are afraid of the Vietnam War. They don't want to be drafted and then the pressures of school. They work on a farm where they pluck and pull whatever is in season. Abel does end up getting drafted and Jesse wants to go enlist so he can protect his older brother. Jesse's friend Jesus tells him not to go. Jesse listens to Jesus and goes back to his field labor job. I think this can relate to young man going through a dysfunctional family. As a side affect of that he has problems with girls. He has confusion about goals in his life.

Jesse

This book is about two Mexican brothers,Jesse and Abel who are tired of struggling to be abel to live the next day. They both work long hours in cotton and grape fields to be abel to put themselves through college, but no matter hard they try things always get in their way.Recommendations: I think that i would recommend this book to everyone adults and my peers. I would like my peers to read this book because it would help them to see that no matter who or what comes in their wat , never give up but keep on going because if it is for the good it will only make you a better person.

This story touched my life

This is a beautifully written and poignant story about 17 year old Jesse, a Mexican-American boy coming of age during the turmoil of the Vietnam War. I was inspired by Jesse's optimism and charmed by his innocence and simplicity. Despite his poverty and family difficulties, Jesse aspires to get an education and become an artist. By the end of this book, I felt that I knew Jesse and that he had become a friend.

Jesse: An Excellent Choice to Read

I definitely enjoyed reading this book. I kept turning the pages of Jesse by Gary Soto. This book tells the story of a boy who drops out of high school during his senior year, and joins his brother at City College. The brothers meet new people, try to earn more money to add to the little they have, and get through the tough times of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War. This book was very enjoyable to read because of the first person writing style and because Jesse, the main character, has a very different lifestyle than mine. The first person writing style helped me get a direct point of view from the main character. I also thought it was very different and fascinating to read about a different heritage (Mexican), and life, such as going to City College and having little money to live on. There were many aspects of this book that I enjoyed. As fine as this book is, there are some reasons why readers may not enjoy it. Some people may get restless with the slow-moving pace of the book. It was not a very suspenseful book. It is also a little repetitive. Some events happened more than once, such as Jesse thinking some event or item over and over again. Some readers may think the book is boring in the beginning, but if you keep reading, you will get to know the writing style and really enjoy the book. Overall, I strongly recommend Jesse by Gary Soto.