Review: NEIGHBORHOOD ODES by Gary Soto

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Soto, Gary. 1992. Neighborhood Odes. Ill. by David Diaz. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0152568794.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Neighborhood Odes is a collection of poems about life in a Mexican-American neighborhood. The poems offer a child’s view into the activities and family relationships evident in the neighborhood.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Through this collection of poems, the reader is transported to childhood in a tight-knit community thriving with activity. Many of the poems focus on the importance of family relationships through the descriptions of everyday events in which families bond such as making tortillas, attending a wedding, sharing books at the library, and hitting the piñata at a birthday celebration. One will also note the special relationship between brothers in “Ode to Fireworks” in which two mischievous brothers argue and fight but end up watching the fireworks together in the end and “Ode to Pomegranates” in which the two Garcia brothers sneak into their neighbor’s yard to pick pomegranates off her tree.

Through Soto’s masterful use of words, the reader experiences these and other joys of childhood which not only appeal to a Hispanic audience but also have universal appeal.
His use of Spanish in the poems adds color and flavor to the experience. The words are carefully interspersed throughout and although they are not translated in the text, most meanings can be determined using the context. Those that are less common can be defined by using the glossary provided at the end of the book.

Diaz’s black and white silhouetted illustrations are whimsical and add an appropriate visual which enhances the poetry without taking away from the poem itself. In fact, I found myself so involved in the words that I had to go back to look at the picture after finishing the poem. The illustrations provided an additional depth to the story being told in the poem.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY review: “The tight clumps of language reproduce the quality of rapid and playful conversation. Affectionate without being overly sentimental, the collection provides a good introduction to contemporary poetry as well as a fine homage to a Chicano community. Diaz's woodcuts complement the poems perfectly: the silhouettes are fanciful and dynamic but do not draw attention from the words on the page.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: “The rewards of well-chosen words that create vivid, sensitive images await readers of this collection of poems. Through Soto's keen eyes, they see, and will be convinced, that there is poetry in everything… Each selection is an expression of joy and wonder at life's daily pleasures and mysteries.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Students should make a list of what defines their neighborhood. Then choose a few things that they feel are important to their experiences in their neighborhood and write a poem or several to express their feelings about their neighborhood.

For the poems in the book that were not illustrated, students could provide their own illustrations using the same silhouette style as David Diaz.