The Year of the Dog

THE YEAR OF THE DOG

By Grace Lin

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Lin, Grace. (2006). THE YEAR OF THE DOG. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
       ISBN 0-316-06000-3.

PLOT SUMMARY:

The Year of the Dog is the story of a young Taiwanese-American girl named Grace, or Pacy at home. She struggles with her dual cultural identity as she tries to fit in with her school mates and friends. She and her family enjoy traditional Taiwanese holidays, celebrations, and foods. But the children also try to convince their parents to fit in with the neighbors and celebrate American holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, with humorous results. Since this coming year is the year of the dog, Grace is supposed to make new friends and find herself or her purpose in life. She meets another Taiwanese-American girl named Melody who becomes her best friend and shares her adventures. When she enters a story writing contest in school, she cannot write—she doesn’t know what to write about. She finally decides to write about herself as a Taiwanese-American girl, and finds that she has a calling as a writer. So, by the end of the book and the end of the Year of the Dog, Grace has found a new friend and has found herself.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

The author, Grace Lin does a beautiful job of weaving her traditional Taiwanese culture and her American culture in this story of her upbringing in upstate New York. The book begins with the Chinese New Year’s Year of the Dog. The family says, “Gong xi-gong xi! Xin-nian kuai le!”  which means Happy New Year! (p. 1). They have a very large special dinner for the entire family with dishes such as dumplings, shrimp, and vegetable which are all supposed to bring wealth in the new year. A special platter for sweets is set out—and since they don’t have enough Chinese sweets, they add M&Ms (p.3). This is a perfect example of the blending of the two cultures. At the New Year celebration, the children receive red envelopes called hong bao that hold money (p.10).

Lin includes some fantastic analogies in the story that reflect her Taiwanese culture. On page 8 she says that the “moon hung like a freshly peeled lychee in the sky.” Also on page 8, “the room was as clean as an empty rice bowl.” On page 29, Grace’s sister Lissy explains to Grace why she has an American name and a Chinese name, “‘. . . it’s like egg foo young. At home we call it foo yung don, but at the restaurants they call it egg foo young. So it’s easier for American’s to say. But it’s still the same egg pancake . . .’”  On page 34 Grace compares her new found friendship with Melody Ling “like two chopsticks.” On page 112, she says “The leaves turned as yellow as a Chinese pear.” And on page 121, “Snow fell from the sky like clumps of white rice. . .”  On page 34, Grace describes coloring red eggs for a newborn baby’s welcoming party. The red eggs symbolize good luck. On page 38, the girls all wear traditional, fancy Chinese dresses for the baby’s party. The family welcomes them with “Ja-ba, bei?” which means “Have you eaten yet?” On page 46, Grace’s grandmother uses a traditional remedy for her aching neck. She paints the Chinese symbols for tiger on one side of her neck and a pig on the other side. The tiger will chase the pig and the running will massage the neck and make it feel better.

There are also some examples of the prejudice and bias that Grace endures. On page 70, Grace is so very excited to try out for the role of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. A classmate of hers says, “You can’t be Dorothy. . . Dorothy’s not Chinese.” On page 71, one of the only books they find in the school library about Chinese people is The Five Chinese Brothers. Grace recognizes that the book doesn’t depict real Chinese people and she determines right then and there to write a book about real Chinese-American people. On page 101, a mean girl calls grace a Twinkie, “My brother said Chinese people who are Americanized are Twinkies. Yellow on the outside but white on the inside!”

Interspersed with the everyday activities of a young school girl such as violin lessons, school projects, science fair projects, boyfriends, schoolyard bullies, and the school play are the magnificent family stories and family history that is provided to Grace through the words of her mother. She does a wonderful job of taking her personal experiences and tying them in to the life of Grace and providing her lessons to live by. A thoroughly enjoyable and humorous book that I highly recommend.

AWARDS:

From the author’s website:

• 2006 ALA Children's Notable
• 2006 Asian Pacific American Librarian Association Honor
• 2006 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) GOLD Winner
• 2007-2008 Texas Bluebonnet Award Masterlist
• 2007 Nene Awards Recommended List (Hawaii's Book Award Chosen by Children Grades 4-6)
• 2007 Cochecho Readers' Award List (sponsored by the Children's Librarians of Dover, New Hampshire)
• NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2006
• Kirkus Best Early Chapter Books 2006
•2006 Booklist Editors' Choice for Middle Readers
•Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice 2007
•Boston Authors Club Recommended Book
•2007-2008 Great Lakes Great Books Award nominee
•2007-2008 North Carolina Children's Book Award nominee
•2007-2008 West Virginia Children's Book Award nominee
•2009 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award (OR) nominee
•2009 Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award (WA, OR, ID)nominee

REVIEWS:

School Library Journal: “A lighthearted coming-of-age novel with a cultural twist. Readers follow Grace, an American girl of Taiwanese heritage, through the course of one year–The Year of the Dog–as she struggles to integrate her two cultures. Throughout the story, her parents share their own experiences that parallel events in her life. These stories serve a dual purpose; they draw attention to Graces cultural background and allow her to make informed decisions. She and her two sisters are the only Taiwanese-American children at school until Melody arrives. The girls become friends and their common backgrounds illuminate further differences between the American and Taiwanese cultures. At the end of the year, the protagonist has grown substantially. Small, captioned, childlike black-and-white drawings are dotted throughout. This is an enjoyable chapter book with easily identifiable characters.”

Booklist Starred Review***: “When Lin was a girl, she loved the Betsy books by Carolyn Hayward, a series about a quintessentially American girl whose days centered around friends and school. But Lin, a child of Taiwanese immigrants, didn't see herself in the pages. Now she has written the book she wished she had as a child. Told in a simple, direct voice, her story follows young Grace through the Year of the Dog, one that Grace hopes will prove lucky for her. And what a year it is! Grace meets a new friend, another Asian girl, and together they enter a science fair, share a crush on the same boy, and enjoy special aspects of their heritage (food!). Grace even wins fourth place in a national book-writing contest and finds her true purpose in life. Lin, who is known for her picture books, dots the text with charming ink drawings, some priceless, such as one picturing Grace dressed as a munchkin. Most of the chapters are bolstered by anecdotes from Grace's parents, which connect Grace (and the reader) to her Taiwanese heritage. Lin does a remarkable job capturing the soul and the 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.”

 

CONNECTIONS:

The author’s website: http://www.gracelinbooks.com/

Year of the Dog Educator Guide: http://www.gracelinbooks.com/files/Year_of_The_Dog_EduGuide.pdf

Information about Chinese New Year: http://holidays.kaboose.com/what-is-chinese-new-year.html

Information about Taiwan: http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/world-factbook/country/tw--Taiwan