Gabe

By: Gary Soto

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Paperback | 15 February 2019

At a Glance

Paperback
100 Pages

Age
8 - 12

Grade
3 - 7

Dimensions(cm)
20.32 x 13.34 x 0.64

Paperback

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Thirteen-year-old Gabe Mendoza is headed to the public library when he hears a voice call, &;Son.&; Gabe sizes up an approaching vagrant. &;It&;s me, your dad.&;Dad? Couldn&;t be. This man looks homeless&;is homeless. He&;s hauling a suitcase with everything he possesses&;nothing. To Gabe, the figure doesn&;t look right. He&;s wearing a sweatshirt on a hot summer afternoon. His neck is filthy, his teeth rotten in an unsmiling mouth. Gabe&;s father had abandoned him and his mother five years earlier. As the story unfolds, Gabe wrestles with confusion. Should he give his father a second chance&;the father who is now destitute, possibly ill, pathetic, and an alcoholic?

Life has never been easy for Gabe on the streets of Fresno. He&;s always escaping trouble, especially from Frankie Torres, who practices his gangbanging tactics on Gabe.

The novella is quick as anger, but Gabe isn&;t angry. There&;s tenderness in his troubled heart. It is meant to be read more than once&;each reading will reveal more about his mother, playground life, forgiveness, and the healing nature of dog that comes into his life.

. . . The afternoon was hot, maddening hot. He stopped under a tree and spied the temperature on the corner bank building: 104. Through the wavering heat, he eyed a figure in a 49ers sweatshirt. Dang, Gabe thought. What&;s wrong with this guy? A sweatshirt in this heat?
&;Son,&; the figure beckoned to him.
Son? Gabe wondered. Was this homeless man looking for a handout?
&;It&;s me, your dad.&; The figure in dirty clothes was pulling a large suitcase on wheels. The man did his best to hoist a smile.
The vagrant did resemble his dad, whom Gabe hadn&;t seen in four years. His dad had driven away in the family&;s best car, with his clothes and the household computer in the backseat. He had also loaded the car with cases of soda and bottledwater, as if he were thirsty for a life other than the one he had with them. . . &; He&;s homeless,&; Gabe whispered to himself. Everything he owned was stuffed in that suitcase on wheels, which he hauled like a donkey pulling a cart.

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