Description:

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Manny Hernandez's dad is always calling himel perico, or "the parrot," from a Mexican saying about a parrot who complains how hot it is in the shade while all along he's sitting in the oven and doesn't know it. But Manny, wanting to be smarter than the parrot, struggles with the awkwardness of adolescence as he searches for acceptance and becomes a vato firme,a stand-up guy. More... (Harper Children Reading Group Guide;)

Websites about Parrot in the Oven:

• Parrot in the Oven: mi vida
  HarperCollins Readers Guide
  http://www.harperchildrens.com/rgg/rggparrot.htm (HarperChildrens.com; )
  
  
• A Parrot in the Oven - Reviewed by: Chelsie Bain
  http://www.twinlakes.k12.in.us/schools/rms/LitWeb/oven.html (Twin Lakes Lit-Web; )

Curriculum Resources:

• Literature Response Guide for Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez
  by Angie Price
  http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~bgoebel/response%20guides/parrotintheoven.html (WSCTE;)
  
  
• Study Questions
  for advanced discussion and writing with page references.
  http://theliterarylink.com/questions_otherbooks.html#Parrot%20in%20the%20Oven (The Literary Link;)

Author Biography:

Victor Martinez says that his background “makes up the stuff of his work.” Born and raised in Fresno, California, the fourth in a family of twelve children, he attended California State University at Fresno and Stanford University. Mr. Martinez has also worked as a field laborer, welder, truck driver, firefighter, teacher, and office clerk.
Victor Martinez’s poems, short stories, and essays have appeared in such prestigious publications as Si, El Andar, The Bloomsbury Review, and the High Plains Literary Review. Victor Martinez lives with his wife in San Francisco. More... (HarperChildrens.com;)

Websites about Victor Martinez:

• Interview with Victor Martinez by Elizabeth Farnsworth (November 7, 1996)
  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/november96/martinez_11-7.html (PBS;)