A review by rebecita
Pacific Crossing by Gary Soto

2.0

I picked this up as a timekiller at work today. With respect to Mr. Soto, who is a talented writer and promoter of Chicano lit, it was pretty forgettable. It's one of those shiny happy multicultural stories with 70s slang but excessive references to Hammer. Back in 92 (when I read stacks of these heartwarming PC tales) a cross-cultural book about kids from backgrounds neither white nor black filled a big need, but that's sort of the sum of the plot. From what I can tell, any coming of age took place in the previous story. If you take anything from this sequel it will be how to say things like "Hey carnal, let's shake hands raza style and then go practice kempo at the dojo. I sure miss those frijoles in the barrio, but these nigirimeshi are heavy, ese." (This isn't QUITE a direct quote, but it's close, and it's easy to make your own cultural exchange madlibs from the glossary in the back.)