In the collection of short stories Living up the Street, author Gary Soto honestly recalls details of his personal experiences as a poor Chicano growing up in the barrios of Fresno, California. Soto really gives me a better understanding of the true divide between the life of a child growing up with limited financial and social opportunities, than that of a child that is given those same opportunities in plentitude. Throughout the book Gary, sometimes accompanied by siblings Debra and Rick, finds himself rebelling and getting into mischief. He realizes at an early age that his status as a poor Mexican greatly differs from the white upper class folks he watches on television. Throughout the book Gary is caught in a constant contradiction of who he is, and who he desires to be. .
First, at an early age Gary and his siblings are up to their ears in trouble. He explains how he knows that they are mean kids. In the first short story "Being Mean" Gary Soto states, "Although we looked healthy, clean in the morning, an polite as only Mexicans can be polite, we had a streak of orneriness that we imagined to be normal play." The fact that he says they imagine their behavior to be normal tells me of the awareness it is not. Trying to burn down the house isn't normal. Throwing cats and bottles in a sack to go beat up the new neighbors isn't normal. A tomato fight in the house isn't normal. Stealing from neighbors, kicking chickens, and throwing rocks at passing cars, none of it is normal and he knows it. For the children living in the barrio meanness seems to be a tool for survival. Although, nothing can protect him from the sharp words of an Okie kid who calls him a dirty Mexican, and it makes Gary self conscience and ashamed as he spots his dirty feet. He tries in vain to physically harm the boy who eventually gets the best of him. Gary's toughness didn't hide his sensitivity to being different.
