Baseball in April and Other Stories

Written by Gary Soto, Baseball in April and Other Stories (1990) is a collection of middle grade short stories that features Mexican American youths who are growing up in California’s Central Valley. Set in the 1980s, the stories show protagonists navigating a range of childhood experiences in a multicultural society as they and their families also negotiate financial hardships. 

Soto’s collection was the winner of the 1996 Pura Belpré Award and the California Library Association’s Beatty Award, and it was also named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. The 11 narratives in Baseball in April and Other Stories feature Mexican American protagonists ranging in age from elementary-school students to high-schoolers. Despite their differences, they grapple with issues such as Finding Belonging in a Multicultural Society, The Challenges of the Coming-of-Age Journey, and Economic Hardship as a Formative Childhood Experience.

This guide refers to the 1990 Harcourt print edition.

Plot Summaries

In the opening story, “Broken Chain,” Alfonso anxiously awaits his first date of riding bikes with a girl named Sandra. Worried about his crooked teeth and the fact that his brother will not loan him an extra bike, Alfonso accidentally breaks the chain on his own bike. Expecting the worst, he hides while waiting for Sandra. Then, his brother loans Alfonso a bike after all. Sandra and Alfonso have a great time together.

In “Baseball in April,” brothers Jesse and Michael initially obsess over making the Little League baseball team. After getting cut from the team, Michael loses interest in the sport, while Jesse discovers a makeshift team of Mexican American kids who practice at a local park. For a few weeks, the brothers dedicate themselves to baseball and play against another informal team. However, over time, attendance at practice trickles to nothing, so Jesse is left to think about baseball rather than play it.

In “Two Dreamers,” nine-year-old Hector is caught up in his grandfather’s desire to make money in the real estate market. Because the older man believes his grandson knows how things are done in the US, he persuades the boy to call a real estate agent about a property. Uncomfortable with the arrangement, Hector fumbles through multiple conversations until his grandfather realizes that his scheme is not likely to succeed.

In “Barbie,” Veronica is enamored of things that she does not have. She longs to own the iconic blond version of the doll, not the brown-haired imitation that she already possesses. When her uncle and his white fiancé give her a Barbie for Christmas, Veronica is ecstatic. However, after fighting with her friend over the doll, Veronica discovers that Barbie’s head is missing. After an unsuccessful search, she accepts her flawed doll as well as the brown-haired imitation.

In “The No-Guitar Blues,” Fausto longs to make money to buy a guitar so that he can become famous like the Chicano band, Los Lobos. When he spots a dog, he schemes to pretend that the dog was “lost” and obtain a cash reward from the owners for returning it. At the house of the dog’s owners, a kindly couple showers Fausto with pity and gratitude and gives him $20. Guilt-ridden over his deception, the boy donates the money to church. In a stroke of luck, though, his grandfather gifts him an old guitarron.

In “Seventh Grade,” Victor has a singular focus like Fausto, but instead of wanting a guitar, he longs for the attention of his crush, Teresa. To impress her, Victor pretends that he can speak French. When he grunts a series of odd-sounding words, the teacher knows that Victor has lied. At the end of class, a mortified Victor tries to flee the room, only to be intercepted by Teresa, who is impressed by his French-speaking skills.

Yollie and her mother, Mrs. Moreno, struggle financially in “Mother and Daughter.” Without the means to buy a new dress for Yollie’s eighth-grade dance, Mrs. Moreno dyes the girl’s white summer dress black. At the event, Yollie dances with Ernie, her crush, until it begins to rain. When she discovers that the dress is dripping gray puddles, she races home, angry with her mother and the situation. The next day, however, Ernie calls and asks her to go to the movies. Mrs. Moreno uses some of her savings to buy Yollie a new outfit.

In “The Karate Kid,” Gilbert is inspired by the movie of the same name to stand up to a bully at school. However, he gets beaten up, so he decides to begin lessons at a local karate studio. The classes are not what he expected, and Gilbert continues to be targeted by the bully. When the instructor closes the studio due to financial hardship, Gilbert is relieved and turns to comic books instead.

In “La Bamba,” Manuel longs to be in the spotlight and volunteers to lip sync at his school talent show. During the performance, the record gets stuck on one line, so Manuel is forced to sing and dance to the same words repeatedly. To his surprise, the audience loves it and believes that his humorous performance was intentional. Manuel basks in the limelight and reflects that the day turned out well after all.

In “The Marble Champ,” Lupe craves attention and longs to be good at a sport, so she trains to become a marbles champion by doing pushups to strengthen her wrists and squeezing erasers to build up her thumb muscles. On the day of the championship, she easily defeats her opponents and gains a large following. Later, Lupe soaks her swollen thumb and relishes her victory.

In “Growing Up,” 10th-grader Maria opts to stay home while her family goes on vacation. Instead of feeling the joys of freedom, however, she worries incessantly about them. When they return, she is jealous of their exciting trip, but she also realizes how much she loves them and recognizes that she has grown up.