Parrot in the Oven

Can you picture how your life would be if you grew up with a dad who went to the local bar every night, got drunk, didn’t have a job, and was abusive? Or a mom who woke up long before sunrise to scrub the entire household, day after day? How about an older brother who partied every night instead of trying to be responsible and finding a job, and an older sister who didn’…showed first 75 words of 577 total…

…showed last 75 words of 577 total…the shade, never questioning his location. Yet, Manuel sees his family and neighborhood so clearly. His father’s drinking, his mother’s endless cleaning, and the bullies in the neighborhood are all viewed with love and humor. Manuel wants to be "vato firme," what the neighborhood calls a guy to respect. For Manuel being respectable is learning what he thinks it is to be a man, and not what his crazy world dictates. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**