Year of the Dog

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This chapter book follows the story of a young Taiwanese girl who is the only one of her culture in her school, not counting her sister. But one day another girl moves to town who is of similar heritage. Our main character is quick to explain that while at home her name is Pacy, at school her name is Grace. Throughout the story the reader learns how important different cultures are, and how at times cultures can be dampened in order to fit in.

Readers will learn about not only the Taiwanese culture, from taking red eggs to celebrate a birth to planting vegetables in order to have certain foods, but how at times these cultures are merged or changed when people move to America. This story is one that shows daily life in the Taiwanese culture, as well as cultural traditions and holiday celebrations. Something that stands out is that at times people of different cultures are treated differently or mistreated for their culture, and they feel like they need to change or hide their culture. 

This book has a sequel, YEAR OF THE RAT, that follows the continuation of Pacy's story that began in this story. Readers will be interested to see how Pacy has continued her adventures as well as how her relationship is with her new best friend Melody.

This book was reviewed by School Library Journal, an excerpt of the review follows:

A light hearted coming-of-age novel with a cultural twist. 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.–Diane Eddington, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Citation

Lin, G. (2006). Year of the dog. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group USA.