Book Review of "The Year of the Dog" by Grace Lin
Bibliography
Lin, G. 2008. The year of the dog. Little Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9780316060028
Plot Summary
We follow Pacy, a Taiwanese American student who is struggling to find her place in the world. We start with the Lin family and their traditional Chinese New Year traditions that involve food, stories, and superstitions. Early in the book Pacy meets a new girl in school called Melody and they are instantly friends. They begin doing everything together and even agree on doing a Science Fair project together. When Pacy finds out that a boy she has a crush on may like her, she has a moment when she wants to do the project with him instead. The girls quickly realize that he likes someone else and are happy to be working together on the project again. Once the fair is over the girls then focus on the school play, The Wizard of Oz. Pacy gets a little discouraged when a girl tells her that Dorothy cannot be played by a “Chinese person.” Pacy continues in the play as a gift-giving munchkin and enjoys the play anyway. Once summer comes along her family attends the Taiwanese American Convention with Melody’s family and Pacy feels out of place there too. Pacy finally finds something she is good at when she receives an announcement that she has won 4th place in the national book contest for a book she wrote in class a while back. We see many different holidays come and go until the year is over and the family reflects on their Year of the Dog and all their accomplishments.
Critical Analysis
The main character of the book is Pacy, but she is also called Grace because that is her American name. She is a little naïve but curious about everything and is in the upper elementary years of her life. Throughout the book Pacy has some difficulties combining her two lives, her American life and her Taiwanese life. We also interact with Pacy’s mom who tells her children stories and offers good advice. She loves her children and shows them how to be themselves but keeping true to their culture. Pacy’s best friend is a girl named Melody. She is a kindhearted girl and loyal to her friend. Pacy and Melody overcome many different cultural differences in the book and offer ways to help mix their culture with the new one. The girls show cooperation throughout the book and show that friendship is a strong bond. We also see the girls interact with different cultures in the book and see how to include a little bit of American in their lives. The story takes place in New Hartford, New York where Pacy lives with her family. A lot of the story takes place in the home of the Lin family where they come together and celebrate. Part of the book also takes place in Pacy’s school and Pacy participates in different school activities throughout the book. We follow the family over the course of a year during the Chinese Year of the Dog. The story takes place in contemporary time with Pacy and her school participating in things like the Science Fair and her school cafeteria is detailed like a modern-day elementary school. We see many different cultural references in the book like the Lin family celebrating the Chinese New Year and what traditions they do for that event. We see special foods being made, red envelopes with money and different superstitions being taught like staying up late makes your parents live longer. There are many different Taiwanese food dishes that are represented in the story like rice, noodles, soy sauce chicken, and dumplings. We see Pacy struggle with this when she goes to school and doesn’t have the “traditional” American lunch. We also see the family values and stories that are presented in the book like when Pacy’s parents share stories about their time in Taiwan. There are some hints in the story that Pacy and Melody feel different because they wear different clothes than the other American children and their skin tone is different as well. We see how the girls overcome and be thankful for what they have and who they are. There are different illustrations in the story that show us different cultural details like the bowls used for eating and what their table looks like on Thanksgiving. Overall, this story is a great way to show younger children to embrace themselves for who they are and stay true to their friendships and culture. If there is nothing about your culture out there this book encourages you to go out there and make it yourself. Young students will love to see the changes that Pacy makes for herself and how she overcomes.
Review Excerpt(s)
Author Grace Lin, Newbery Honor Winner
"Lin does a remarkable job capturing the soul and spirit of books like those of Hayward or Maud Hart Lovelace, reimagining them through the lens of her own story, and transforming their special qualities into something new for today's young readers."―Booklist, starred review
"This comfortable first-person story will be a treat for Asian-American girls looking to see themselves in their reading, but also for any reader who enjoys stories of friendship and family life."―Kirkus
Connections
*I would have students do a research project on the Chinese Zodiac animal of their choice and give the traits of the animal and what the sign means in Chinese culture.
*I would challenge students to read Grace Lin’s other book The Year of the Rat and give a comparison between the two books, how they are alike and how they are different.
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