The Year of the Dog: A Novel by Grace Lin

Lin, Grace. The Year of the Dog: A Novel. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-428-71408-3

SUMMARY

It is the Year of the Dog. Chinese tradition says this is the year for people to find their best friends and to discover their own personal strengths and talents. Pacy, known as Grace to her friends in elementary school, soon discovers that the belief is becoming a reality for her as the year passes. She makes friends with a new student, Melody Ling, whose family, like Grace’s family, came from Taiwan to the United States. She also discovers more about herself and her family as they share joyous events and warm memories with one another. The Year of the Dog becomes a year when she realizes her passions and talents and understands the direction she wants them to take her.

ANALYSIS

Grace Lin draws on her own experience growing up as an Asian-American in Upstate New York in her novel, The Year of the Dog. During the Year of the Dog, she gains a deeper understanding of the richness of her family’s Taiwanese and Chinese cultures and history. As the year ends, Grace realizes she has a gift as an artist and writer. That is when she knows that when she grows up, she will become an author and illustrator.

The writing is simple, but each chapter is rich with a lesson to learn about life or traditions and can stand by itself as a memoir. The novel’s format does not follow the traditional story elements outline. There is no outstanding conflict with the rising action that leads the reader to the breathtaking moment of “Oh no! What will happen?” Instead, the conflict is a simple wondering that children have: “I wonder what I will be when I grow up.” The events continue in the smooth flow of a life’s current – a style in fictional writing common to Asian culture.

It seems, however, that Lin is on a mission in this novel – to enlighten her readers about Taiwanese/Chinese cultures. She does this skillfully – slipping the Chinese cultural traditions into Pacy’s story so the reader does not feel like the book is a cultural fact book. For example, when a child is born in China, the people celebrate the birth by painting eggs red and giving the eggs to the baby for good luck. The more eggs the child receives, the more luck he will have. When Pacy’s cousin, Albert, was born, her family made preparations to go see him. Part of the preparations included painting the eggs. While painting, the girls have a misunderstanding that creates a slight mishap. Pacy’s mother, though, immediately assesses the problem, and quickly, with a hint of humor, explains to the children the cause of the misunderstanding. The scene is warm with love for each other and for the newborn Albert, for whom they paint the eggs.

Lin provides examples of Chinese language in the book, from wishing one another a happy new year, “Gong xi-gon xi! Xin-nian kuai lei,” to discussing Chinese words for foods. For example, egg foo young is actually called foo yung don in Chinese. Using an American name instead of a Chinese name at school is brought up when Pacy asks her older sister why she cannot use Pacy at school, but instead has to be called Grace. Her sister explains to her that the doctors advised their parents when the children were born to give the children an American name and a Chinese name in order to avoid problems. The Chinese name can be used at home, while the American name is used at school. Pacy cannot speak Chinese, which causes a conflict between her and other Asian-American children in a summer camp who called her a Twinkie: yellow on the outside, but white on the inside. The children felt that she should be able to speak Chinese, and by not speaking it she was denying her culture.

Through the Year of the Dog, Pacy begins to understand her position as an American citizen with a Taiwanese heritage. She realizes that she would love to write about the Taiwan/Chinese cultures when she gets older, so that others can understand and appreciate the meanings behind the beautiful traditions.

AWARDS/REVIEWS

ALA Notable Children’s Books, 2007

Asian Pacific American Librarian Association Honor, 2006

National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA), Gold Winner, 2006

Horn Book starred, 10/01/06

Booklist starred, 01/01/06

“Lin, best known for her picture books, here offers up a charming first novel, an autobiographical tale of an Asian-American girl’s sweet and funny insights on family, identity, and friendship.” Publisher’s Weekly, February

“This is a fun and simple coming-of-age story for anyone who feels they do not quite fit in.” Jeanna Sciarrotta, Children’s Literature, 

CONNECTIONS

Fun Craft and Classroom Activities:

http://gracelin.com/content.php?page=book_yeardog&display=activities

Other Novels about Pacy:

The Year of the Rat

Dumpling Days: A Novel

Other Novels by Grace Lin:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Starry River of the Sky

PERSONAL RESPONSE

The first page of this novel just stunned me when I read the words, “…we lived in New Hartford, New York…” I grew up in New Hartford, New York, and the only people who even know there is a New Hartford are the people who live there! As I read the book, I realized that she would not refer to the great Italian food available in that area. However, the traditions she and her family had were just as crazy and fun and family oriented as the Italian Americans'. It reaffirmed my belief that people from all cultures share one common theme: Combining Family, Tradition, and Food creates strong bonds of love – no matter what part of the world we live in.  

The Year of the Dog: A Novel. Cover illustration. Internet on-line.  Retrieved November 10, 2013 from http://www.flr.follett.com/search?SID=ebe7e91e39d0302a0506ca49da053314