The Year of the Dog

Title: The Year of the Dog

Author: Grace Lin

Target Audience: 8-12

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Multicultural Fiction

The Year of the Dog celebrates the Chinese Year of the Dog by introducing Pacy Lin, an American girl with Taiwanese heritage who is trying to discover who she is. The story follows her through a year of her life, starting with the first day of the Chinese New Year; the Year of the Dog. At school, Pacy goes by her American name of Grace, and is excited when another Taiwanese-American student, Melody, moves to town. Grace then has a friend who shares her culture and who she has quite a bit in common with. Grace’s story is interspersed with stories told to her by her family members, who have had similar trials and tribulations to her own. Her adventure takes her through struggles to find her talent, making friends, and an exploration of luck. Universal themes of friendship, family, and finding one’s passion in life make this novel appealing to readers of all backgrounds. A cleverly written book that enmeshes culture (i.e. foods, holidays, traditions), Lin uses cartoon drawings to illustrate Taiwanese culture for readers to visualize an unfamiliar world.   

"It’s not fair. To Americans, I’m too Chinese, and to Chinese people, I’m too American. So which one am I supposed to be?” -Grace

                                   

 "You can't fill the tray with M&M," she told me, "It's a Chinese tray, only Chinese candy is suppose to go in it."
  "But there's not enough Chinese candy to fill it, "I told her.
  We both looked at the tray. We couldn't decide if it was better to have the tray be half empty with Chinese candy or full with Chinese and American candy.
  Mom was frying food , so we took the tray to Dad. He scooped up a big handful of Chinese candy and M&M's and ate it.
  "This way is good," he said, "We should have both Chinese and American candy for the new year. It's just like us--Chinese American. I think it's going to be a very sweet year!"

About the Author:

"Growing up Asian in a mainly Caucasian community was not a miserable and gloomy existence. But it was different. I wrote The Year of the Dog, because I felt that it was important to have a book that addressed those differences in a real and upbeat way. I wrote it because it was the book I wished I had had when I was growing up, a book that had someone like me in it." Grace Lin

Grace Lin is an American author and illustrator. Her parents were immigrants to the United States from Taiwan.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do we celebrate New Years in America? How is this different than other cultures?
2. Why is the character Grace different from her peers?
3. How does Grace merge her two cultural backgrounds?
4. What are Grace's hopes for the new year?
5. How are Grace and Melody similar?
6. What themes are introduced in The Year of the Dog?
7. What are some of the Taiwanese traditions introduced in the book?

Motivational Activities:

• Using a Venn Diagram graphic organizer, compare and contrast American and Taiwanese culture.
• Discover Chinese calligraphy through a writing activity.
• Students can research the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Dog to learn more about the topic of the book.
• Learn about the Chinese Zodiac. Based on the year of their birth, students will deliver a presentation on their character attributes using the Chinese Zodiac.
• Students reflect upon their past year in a writing activity that will enable them to learn about creating a memoir.
• Students discover their heritage through family history. With parental support, students will find cultural heritage within their family tree and make a poster of the traditions of their culture. Students will be engaged in learning about their heritage and listen respectfully to others as they present this activity. This activity can foster the core value *Respect by teaching students that we are a unified classroom, all learning the same standards and course content, yet we have differences in beliefs, practices, and customs. Everyone can learn together regardless of their heritage.

Other books by Grace Lin:

The Year of the Rat (A Pacy Lin Novel)

Dumpling Days (A Pacy Lin Novel)

The Ugly Vegetables

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Lin, Grace. (2007). The Year of the Dog: A Pacy Lin Novel. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

*Respect - Animated in the spirit of Jesus Christ, we value all individuals' unique talents, respect their dignity and strive to foster their commitment to excellence in our work. Our community's strength depends on the unity and diversity of our people, on the free exchange of ideas and on learning, living and working harmoniously. http://saintleolions.com/about/corevalues/index