THE YEAR OF THE DOG, by Grace Lin



Lin, G. (2006). THE YEAR OF THE DOG A NOVEL. Little, Brown and Company.

 

It's the Chinese year of the dog! When Pacy's (also known as Grace), mom tells her that this is a good year for friends, family, and "finding herself," Pacy begins searching right away. She does find a good friend, Melody, who is also Taiwanese-American just like Pacy. As the year goes on, she struggles to find her talent. She enters the science fair, a book-writing contest, and tries out for the school play. Pacy deals with disappointment and success. In the end, the year of the dog is a lucky one for her.

 

Some universal themes of friendship, family, and finding one’s passion in life run throughout the book. The symbolism I found also deals with culture. Many of the Chinese New Year’s traditional foods represent different things. For example, a New Year’s candy tray symbolizes sweetness in the coming New Year. Each year, the candy tray is set out with delicious, sweet candy to signal sweet times to come. In the present year, Pacy and Ki-ki fill half the candy dish with Chinese candy, and the other half with American candy to represent the fact that they are now Americans. Chinese New Year food symbolizes wealth. Pacy and her family enjoy a Chinese New Year feast that includes many delicious foods ranging from fried fish and meat dumplings to shrimp, pork, vegetables, and more. A large amount of food symbolizes a large amount of wealth hoped for in the New Year. It is interesting that being from the south, we have certain food we eat for New Year that also represents wealth and money…love me some black-eyed peas and cabbage!

There are many cultural markers throughout the story. I have already mentioned the food and how the children have two names. There was the red egg party for their baby cousin Albert. Red eggs symbolize good luck for a new baby. The family got dressed up in their “fancy Chinese clothes” and set off for New Jersey. At the party, Albert’s name was written in Chinese on big piece of red paper. Relatives would slip red envelopes of money into Albert’s crib. There was a soup that only women could eat. “It gives them energy so they can take care of babies,” said Uncle Leo. Food is so important to Chinese culture. Also at the party, Pacy got a crick in her neck from sleeping on the floor. Her grandmother painted a tiger and a pig on her neck. She said, “Leave and the tiger will chase the pig. Running will help neck.”  Pacy didn’t understand what her grandma had done,  so she ran to ask her mom. Mom laughed and said “she painted the Chinese symbol for a tiger on one side of your neck and a pig on the other. The tiger should chase the pig and the running will massage your neck and make your neck feel better.”  Pacy was more concerned about the paint coming off. Mom asked, “does your neck feel better?”  Pacy replied, “Well, yeah, it does!”  It shows how the elders were a bit superstitious, but the younger generation didn’t understand.

 

Kirkus: "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."

Publishers Weekly: "Lin creates an endearing protagonist, realistically dealing with universal emotions and situations. Girls everywhere, but especially those in the Asian-American community, will find much to embrace here."

 

THE YEAR OF THE DOG is book one in the Pacy Lin series. Other books in the series:

 

Book 2 THE YEAR OF THE RAT ISBN 9781663633040

Book 3 DUMPLING DAYS ISBN 9780316531337

 

Grace Lin reads THE YEAR OF THE DOG

 

 

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