"Jesse" by Gary Soto

Gary Soto’s 1994 novel Jesse deals with two latino brothers, Jesse and Abel, as they take jobs picking in fields in order to support themselves through college and to get themselves on a road out of poverty. At the onset of the story, Jesse lives with his mother and drunken stepfather. At the age of 17, Jesse moves in with Abel and the two work to pay for rent and cheap food. Throughout the story, Jesse attempts to reconcile his current social situation with the grand dreams he has of becoming an artist.

Jesse is largely a coming-of-age story, as it focuses on Jesse’s experiences with dating, family relationships, schoolwork, racial issues, and growing independence. The coming-of-age story in the novel is paralleled by the striving of Mexican Americans to achieve social equality. Jesse attends a couple Mexican American rallies, and the growing independence and worldliness of Jesse is mirrored by the growing power and momentum of the Chicano movement of the early 1970s.

Jesse is written in a very straightforward style, and should not be a difficult read for students ninth grade and up. The book does contain a few scenes involving violence and mild sexual content, but these scenes are relevant with the themes of maturation and coming-of-age, and many of the thoughts and emotions of the narrator during the heavier scenes of the book can be easily relatable for high school students. Jesse could be useful in teaching metaphor, Mexican American social struggles of the 1970s, and coming-of-age issues during adolescence. The book does place a heavy emphasis on religion, particularly Christianity, which could prove an issue when teaching in a culturally diverse classroom.