The Year of the Dog

Lin, Grace. The Year of the Dog. Little Brown and Company, 2005. 134 pages. Tr. $14.99, ISBN  978-0-316-06000-4

What’s it about?

Pacy is Taiwanese-American, known as Grace to her Caucasian friends and teachers. This is Pacy’s story of the year of the dog, where her life unfolds in unexpected ways when she begins to discover her talent for writing.

Find out more:

The Year of the Dog is semi-autobiographical. The author, Grace Lin, wrote it because it was the kind of book she wishes she’d had a child, growing up as a Taiwanese-American. The protagonist, Pacy (Taiwanese name)/Grace (American name) narrates happenings in a year of her life, the year of the dog. She has a crush on a boy, makes a new best friend, Melody, celebrates Chinese New Year, writes a book called The Ugly Vegetables (and wins a prize!), and finds herself.  Discovering her talent for writing is life-changing for this youngster who previously felt as though she didn’t have many gifts.

 The differences between Pacy’s family and the mostly Caucasian community are chronicled with humor and candor. The most poignant (and funny!) part of the tale is when Pacy thinks she cannot try out for the part of Dorothy for the class Wizard of Oz play. She ends up being a munchkin, but worries that the audience will laugh and think she is terrible because she is Chinese, and none of the munchkins were Chinese in the movie. This book is about Pacy finding herself and being comfortable in her own skin, and it is a reassuring, entertaining read for any child who feels out of place because of their culture or ethnicity.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Multi-cultural fiction, Friendship Fiction

Reading level: 4^th grade

Interest level: Ages 8-12

Read-alikes: 
Shu-Li and Tamara by Paul Yee 
Ally Finkle's Rules for Girls (series by Meg Cabot)
How Tia Lola Came to (visit) Stay by Julia Alvarez

Subjects/themes: Taiwanese-Americans, writing, cultural identification, self-knowledge, friendship

Awards:

2006 ALA Children’s Notable Book

2006 Booklist Editors’ Choice for Middle Readers

Series information:

Sequel: Year of the Rat (2008)