The Afterlife

The Afterlife by Gary Soto
Soto, G. (2003). The afterlife. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 0152047743

Plot

Chuy is only seventeen and on a date with a girl named Rachel at a nightclub. He is excited and happy. He makes an off hand comment to a man in the bathroom that he likes his yellow shoes. His life is suddenly and senselessly ended. He is stabbed to death by the man in the yellow shoes… a stranger.  Chuy floats up out of his body and wanders around Fresno.  The sensation of being out of his body is hard to get used to and navigate. He watches as his mother tries to get his cousin, Eddie, to take revenge on his unknown murderer. (Eddie is the lead character in Buried Onions, Soto’s prequel to this book.) As Rachel, and his best friend, Angel, mourn his death, Chuy's murderer, who he calls Yellow Shoes, shows no remorse at all as he tosses his knife into a dumpster. Chuy feels alone and misses Angel and Eddie, of whom he says: “I would crave his friendship until my body disappeared altogether.”  After awhile, Chuy meets Crystal, another ghost, and teaches her the ropes of getting around as a spirit. Crystal and Chuy fall in love. Chuy and Crystal, together, try to make sense of their condition and what happened to their lives.

Critical Evaluation

Once again Gary Soto does an excellent job portraying the hard life and senseless violence of the Fresno barrio. This book is a follow-up to Buried Onions. It is interesting to meet some of the same characters as seen through the eyes of the murdered Chuy. This book is an important part of any collection where the patrons deal with gang violence. It challenges tweens to consider the very real consequences this violence.

Readers Annotation

Chuy is excited about his date. But when he is in the bathroom, making himself attractive, he is murdered for no reason. Chuy then embarks on a journey through his life and the consequences his death has on those he loves.

About the Author

Gary Soto was born in Fresno in 1952 to working class Latino parents. Soto began as a poet with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Charles Simic and Pablo Neruda as early influences. Soto's first collection of poems, The Elements of San Joaquin, won the United States Award of the International Poetry Forum in 1976. Soto writes novels for young adults from the Latino perspective. Of his work, Soto states, “...as a writer, my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly Mexican Americans. I’m not a cheerleader. I’m one who provides portraits of people in the rush of life."

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts

Booktalk Ideas: What happens when you die? Is it ever okay to take a life?

Reading Level: Grade 5+
Interest Level: Grade 7+
Challenge Issues: Violence. The violence in this book is easily defended as it is not prevalent and is initial murder is the trigger for the rest of the story.

This book is important for tweens dealing with the consequences of violence.