Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida (Pgs. 1-48)

Summary:
In this first section of the book I learned that the family is of Mexican nationality and was introduced, by the narrator to the family and a basic rundown of how things go on within the family. I learned that Manny's older brother Bernardo, or "Nardo" as they called him, lives kind of a disorganized life. His own mother thought that he sold marijuana, or did some other illegal shamelessness. I also discover that young Manny has a thing for baseball and he has seen this baseball glove that he really likes. Now me personally love baseball and that was a connection that I made immediately to the book. Manny says he dreams of being out there in center field making spectacular catches but I dream about standing out there on second base and making magnificent plays. Manny tells me that he is going to go pick chili peppers in a field to try to make some money to buy his glove. Later on when he is picking the field, a group of vans approach the field and ICE agents rush out onto the fields and take the workers away. After that very disturbing incident, Manny says that his mom wants him to go to another school, one in which he will have a better chance.

Quote:
"My first thought was to run, but when I saw three more vans and a large labor bus pop out of a norrow road in the cornfield bordering ours, I knew the Immigration had come for the people" (Martinez, 15)

When I first read this part I was angry because I know that these hard working people were not doing any thing wrong and that the only reason why they were taking them was because they were undocumented. This quote just shows what was going on around Manny and how it can effect him in the future.

Reactioin:
After reading the first section of the book I have some mixed feelings and all sorts of thoughts running through my head. The one thing that made me angry as I read was the part when the field workers were taken by ICE because they were working hard to pick the chilis that others would refuse to pick, because they were doing the jobs that other people refuse to do. And then they say that, "they are taking all our jobs".