The Skirt

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Soto, Gary. 1992. The Skirt. Ill. by Eric Velasquez. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 9780385306652.

PLOT SUMMARY
Miata Ramirez, a fourth grader has a great memory when it comes to her spelling test, but when it comes to little things like “erasers, marbles, shoes” she has problems remembering. One Friday, Miata took her Folklorico skirt to school to show the other children what she was going to wear for her up-coming dance on Sunday, but she never made it home with her skirt. Miata left it on the school bus. This was not just her folklorico skirt for Sunday, but her mother’s childhood skirt that she too wore when she was little in Mexico. Miata was not able to tell her family of her loss, so she desperately enlists the help of her friend “Ana” to recover her missing skirt. Miata decides that they must get into the bus yard and retrieve the skirt. The girls escape being noticed by her father, who surprisingly was there to work on one of the buses. Bravely Miata returns home only to be surprised by a present from her mother….a new folklorico skirt. Even though the new skirt was bold with colors the old one held such memories, what was she to do? Time would soon tell of Miata’s decision and on that Sunday “Miata twirled like a pinwheel, the old skirt showing under the new skirt.”

Critical Analysis
Gary Soto brings early fluent readers a simple story of family values. He presents text that is understandable to early readers like “The driver strained as he worked the steering wheel like the horns of a bull”. Soto’s understanding of young children is evident by statements describing their actions, such as, “They were walking with cans smashed onto the heels of their shoes, laughing and pushing each other”. Children will giggle as they connect to this pastime.

Cultural markers are highlighted through-out this text. Soto blends in culturally authentic language that helps set the scene “ Little and Alex were lined of to race, Miata counted uno…dos….tres.” and verbal exchanges of “Que Paso” or “Que Bueno”. Gary Soto brings to the reader the life of a hard working family that has moved from Mexico and shows the reader the love the family has for each other. He briefly engages his characters in conversations in the neighborhood and shows the reader the common middle class bonds that sports bring- reporting sadness when the “Los Giagantes” were playing and not the Dodgers. The basis of this book was about a folklorico skirt which is traditional Mexican dance and importance of carrying on family traditions. Soto’s character is full of pride of her family and country.

Illustrator Eric Velasquez offers the readers eight pencil drawings that give the readers a quick look at what the characters look like. His illustrations help the reader’s pacing by using his illustrations to break up this beginning chapter book while adding vision and depth to the characters.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book- “In this cheery snapshot of a Mexican-American family in California.”

Booklist - “A good beginning chapter book, this uses simple words without sounding too simplistic.”

Other Books by Gary Soto
Soto, Gary. Chato’s Ktichen. ISBN 9780698116009.
Soto, Gary. Baseball in April. ISBN 9780152057206.