The Year of the Dog
Bibliography
Lin, G. 2006. THE YEAR OF THE DOG. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group. ISBN 0316060003
Plot Summary
Pacy, also known as Grace (her American name), is celebrating the Year of the Dog, which is part of the Chinese New Year with her sisters and parents. Once her mother tells her the significance of the Year of the Dog, she automatically needs to know what she wants to be when she grows up before the year is over. She struggles with many options, but is disappointed when they don’t turn out. Because of her mother’s childhood stories, she is able to discover her talent, which is writing stories in which she can see herself and her culture.
Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers)
THE YEAR OF THE DOG, is a great fictional/memoir that includes the regular literary elements like character development, settings, conflicts and resolutions. The main conflict in the novel is Pacy’s struggle to find her talent, as a Chinese American. Throughout the novel, Pacy also struggles with her identity as a young, Chinese
American girl living in America. The theme suggested in the novel is finding oneself and cultural values.
THE YEAR OF THE DOG has many Chinese/Taiwanese American cultural markers that enhance the novel and make it authentic to Asian American culture. Since the novel’s topic is the celebration of the Chinese New Year, the first cultural marker that connects to Asian American are the festivities that the family prepares. The passing of the Hong Boa special red envelopes with money in them, the staying up late (to add years to their parents lives), drawings that depict the animal of that year, the special foods (whole fried fish, dumplings, vegetables, buns shrimp and pork) and a candy tray filled with Chinese candy. Because the family lived in America, Pacy also included American candy to fill the tray (M&M’s). This is important in the novel because it can symbolize the struggle with her identity in the novel. The next celebration that connects to Asian American culture is her cousin Albert’s Red Egg party and how they prepared. The characters had to color red eggs, which the character mentions that they are used for good luck. Pacy and her sisters also had to wear their special Chinese clothes. Another important cultural marker that is linked to Chinese culture is when Pacy’s grandmother painted the tiger and pig characters onto her neck to make it feel better. The author was able to give an insider’s perspective into these celebrations, which enhance the novel with specific Asian American details.
The next Asian American cultural marker found in the novel is the interlanguage that was used. “Gong xi-gong xi! Xin-nian kuai le!” or “Happy New Year” is what was heard on the phone from Pacy’s relatives that still lived in Taiwan. “Ja-ba, bei?” was also used during Albert’s new born celebration, which means “Have you eaten yet?” in Taiwanese. It is important to note that Pacy and her sisters didn’t speak or understand Taiwanese so they had to rely on her parents to translate to their older relatives. This played an important role in the novel because it is how Pacy struggled with her Chinese identity. At the TAC camp the other Chinese girls called her a “twinkie”, which meant that she is a Chinese person who has become Americanized. This was the first time that Pacy felt discriminated against by her own people and it made her feel horrible.
Although the novel has small, hand drawn illustrations, they also depict Asian American culture. The first illustration is found on the first page and it displays the family. The author was able to capture the facial features and hair style of an Asian family. The other illustrations shown are the Chinese foods and candy tray used for the New Year celebration. The Chinese dresses that were worn for Albert’s newborn celebration are also well drawn and add to the Asian celebration.
The author was able to authentically describe an important Asian celebration and create a whole storyline around the celebration. The author was also able to give many inside perspectives on the struggles of being a Chinese American living in America.
Review Experts
Asian Pacific American Librarian Association Honor
Texas Bluebonnet Award Masterlist
Publisher’s Weekly Review: The book’s inviting design suggests a journal, and features childlike spot illustrations and a typeface with a hand- lettered quality. Girls everywhere, but especially those in the Asian-American community, will find much to embrace here. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)
Booklist Review: 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
She Persisted: Maya Lin by Grace Lin
Teachers and librarians are able to use this novel to guide students in character development using a graphic organizer.
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