REVIEW OF SUMMER ON WHEELS

 

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Soto, Gary. SUMMER ON WHEELS. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 978-0590483360.



B. PLOT SUMMARY
Hector and Mando live in East L.A. During their summer vacation, they decide to make a road trip on their bikes to Santa Monica beach. On the way they stop and stay with various relatives.

 

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
An important cultural element of this book is the use of language. The author uses predominantly English, but sprinkles in plenty of Spanish words, i.e., gatitos, familia, hombre, masa, mole con pollo, chorizo con huevos, muchachos, andale, barrio, hermana, and many other Spanish words. Even better is the author’s liberal use of Spanish colloquialisms, such as mijo, fuchi, simon, chale, vatos, asco, la migra, chamacos, nalgas, raza, carnal, and other colloquialisms. The author also incorporates slang to add realism to the story. Typical slang words such as nerd and dude are joined with more cultural slang including East Los, homes, and homeboy.  

The beginning of the story includes many cultural references to develop background for the plot and characters. Some of these cultural markers include tagging, graffiti, the Spanish language newspaper “La Opinion”, and a reference to the father’s past herding sheep near La Junta in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. 

The first stop on the boys’ journey is at a poor relative’s home. This relative is not as well-off as their own family’s’ homes. Nonetheless, they end up having a good time with him. They go to the recording studio where he works. Later, they attend a baseball game with him.

After they leave this uncle’s home, they continue on their trip. The next stop is at a rich uncle and aunt’s home. While they are there, the uncle and aunt ask them to teach their cousin how to be more like them. They teach him how to wrestle, how to shake hands raza-style, and other skills necessary to living in the barrio. In return, the next day their cousin takes them to the college where he studies. They learn about the lifestyle of a wealthy well-educated Latino.

While they are on campus, their cousin’s chemistry professor mistakes them for visiting students from Argentina. They are invited to demonstrate their knowledge of chemistry. To cover their lack of chemistry knowledge, they teach the class how to make salsa. During their presentation they discuss the Aztec calendar, roasting a variety of chile peppers, crushing them in a molcajete, and adding more ingredients to get the desired result. The lesson the boys give to the class provides a lens into an important part of the Latino culture, sharing the creation and consumption of traditional foods within the extended family setting.

As they continue their trek, they next bicycle to another relative’s home. He lives in Beverly Hills and works as a chauffeur for a wealthy family. The boys meet the daughter of the family. They come to discover that there is not a good relationship between her and her parents. The boys realize that they are richer in many ways than the wealthy girl. While they may not enjoy the financial success that the girl’s family has, the boys’ families are rich in shared traditions and strong family bonds, a hallmark of many Latino families. For all their wealth, the girl’s family is poor by comparison to the boys’ strong family ties.

They leave their uncle and bicycle to Hollywood. While there they are accosted by a group of Latino boys. As luck would have it, one of the boys is a cousin of Mando. His street name is Puppet. Mando’s cousin Puppet calls off the attack. The boys spend the night at Puppet’s home.

They leave the next day to go to another relative’s home on the way to their destination, Santa Monica beach. On the way, they cross paths with some boys wearing red bandanas. They steer clear of them because they know the red bandanas could mean gang affiliation, which could put them at risk of attack. “The boys told them to get out of their barrio.” While not always the case, sometimes wearing bandanas shows a gang affiliation in Latino culture.

Their next stop is Hector’s aunt’s home. There they find significant signs of Latino culture. Hector’s Aunt Teresa is wearing a white Mexican dress and white sandals. In her home the boys find a poster of Carlos Santana. “There was a picture of Cesar Chavez, a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, wooden animals from Mexico, a calendar of an Aztec warrior cuddling his girlfriend, a handmade serape, and a mirror with a tin frame.” These are all items that can be found in many Latino homes.

While staying with Aunt Teresa, the boys go with her to a local library. On the outside wall of the library they help Aunt Teresa paint a mural. Painting murals is a distinctive aspect of Latino and Chicano culture in Los Angeles and other Californian locations. The history of painting murals in the Chicano culture dates back to 1965. Since then, murals have become a rich part of Latino/Chicano culture expressing pride in their community.  

After finishing their visit with Aunt Teresa and making a trip to the beach at Santa Monica, the boys are ready to head home. At home they decide to paint a mural to commemorate their summer journey. The mural-painting tradition of their Latino/Chicano community has become personalized for them. Hector’s mom helps the boys paint the mural; and, after it is finished, decides to celebrate the mural with a backyard “fiesta” and “barbacoa”. It ends up a way to bring their family closer, and strengthens their bonds.

In the past, there had been differences and falling out between the family members. The get-together served as a way to bring the family back together again. The differences were forgotten, and new, stronger friendships were forged between and amongst the family members.

The novel contains a glossary at the back of the book. This is a Spanish language glossary with definitions of the words. This will help readers who don’t know the Spanish language make their way through the book more easily.

 

D. AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS
Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature (Commended Title – 1995)

NCTE Kaleidoscope: A Multicultural Booklist for Grades K-8 (2nd Edition – 1993-1995)

School Library Journal: “Hector and Mando, 13-year-old friends introduced in Crazy Weekend (Scholastic, 1994), return in this story that follows them as they bike from their homes in East Los Angeles to visit Hector's relatives throughout the city. Along the way, Hector earns $100 for appearing in a TV commercial and is rewarded for being the one-millionth attendee at a Dodgers' game. The boys teach bookish cousin Bently how to wrestle, ride a bike, and be more like them; make friends with a spoiled rich girl who challenges them to contests in every sport imaginable, including a paint-ball war; and nearly get mugged until Mando realizes that one of the thugs is his cousin. At their last stop, they get drafted into painting a library mural, which inspires them to paint a rendition of their adventure on Hector's garage. Although the paint-ball episode is a bit overlong, the plot is rollicking, with some dream-come-true aspects, touches of reality, and humor, emphasized by the boys' banter and enhanced by a sprinkling of Spanish words and phrases. Soto's descriptions make the journey vivid and, throughout the boys' scuffles and escapades, they maintain a deep respect for their elders, a love of family, and a healthy curiosity about life. A glossary of Spanish words and phrases is appended, although there is no pronunciation guide.”

Booklist: “In a funny sequel to Crazy Weekend , Hector and his best friend, Mando, take an eight-day bike ride from their East L.A. barrio to Santa Monica, moving from relative to relative along the way. Their urban adventure is upbeat, told with a casual narrative and irreverent dialogue. A few of the episodes are a bit too purposive (one cousin is a nerdy genius who needs to learn how to play; another is a rich, bossy girl, angry because her parents reject her), but the combination of slapstick and affection draws you in ("Aunt Teresa warned the boys that if they drowned she would be really mad at them"). Great for reading aloud, the story captures the physicality of the boys' experience, especially about junk food: they feast on milkshakes "thick as wet cement" and throw their faces into huge burgers; they crack sunflower seeds and spit them out the window. There's no great drama, but that's precisely Soto's strength: he embraces the ordinary, messy connections of a happy home with "kids, parents, relatives, neighbors, dogs and cats, even chickens nearly falling out of each open window.” 

Horn Book Guide: “Readers will wish they could go along on the boys' adventurous ride. Soto's story is an engaging and entertaining light summer read.”


E. CONNECTIONS
This story is about two friends going on a summer adventure together.

Here are a couple of other books by the same author about friends having fun together:

Soto, Gary. CRAZY WEEKEND. ISBN 978-0892552863

Soto, Gary. BOYS AT WORK. ISBN 978-0440412212 

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