The Year of the Dog (A Pacy Lin Novel, 1)

Just finished reading The Year of the Dog with my child, taking turns reading aloud. Highly recommended for Chinese American kids. This novel, interwoven with Grace Lin’s own stories, tells of the joys, sorrows, confusions, and discoveries she experienced at age eight—especially how she found her lifelong passion. Its humor, moments of doubt, loneliness, friendship, and family ties will surely resonate with Chinese American readers. My child especially loved some of the humorous chapters, insisting on rereading them from her paper copy before bed—which has kept us up late these past few nights.

Wonderful book. My Grandson and I loved it!

My son is in third grade and his teacher read it aloud to the class. On his recommendation, I read it myself and found I couldn't stop reading. It's full of small stories that feel funny and true. Explores authenticity, belonging, community, and feeling different from others when you're not sure who you are to begin with. The writing is excellent and the characters are memorable and tell stories that are full of heart.

This book is wonderful. I teach at an international school in Asia and read this aloud to my 3rd grade class. They loved it. We were even lucky enough to meet Ms. Lin for a virtual author visit. It was one of the best author visits I've seen. Afterwards, many of my students were searching the library for other titles by Ms. Lin. :0)

I think that Pacy and her family are quite interesting.I love how Pacy and melody really connect,It really shows friendship. I think the book is pretty good

Grace Lin does an incredible job of enchanting readers with stories that also teach about Chinese legend and customs. At least in the books I’ve read (this series and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon), Lin tells the main story with short stories/legends interspersed. They are very short, so the reader doesn’t lose track of the main plot. I’ve read both serieses aloud with fourth graders, and they’ve loved them. I love to start a series in small group rotations and then offer the rest of the series for the kids to read. I’ve had kids finish the rest of the series on their own.

My daughter is almost 9. She enjoyed this book. Pacy, the main character, is on a quest to find herself: Is she Chinese-American? Taiwanese-American? Or just American? To her American friends at school her Chinese culture is distinctly different, so much so, that one little girl insensitively tells her she can't play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz because Dorothy is not Chinese. To Chinese girls, she is not authentically Chinese because she doesn't speak the language; they leave her out, telling her she is "Americanized" or as one girl rudely calls her: "A Twinkie, yellow on the outside, white on the inside." But the book is more than just the dilemma I mention here. It's a great read, and the book ends on a high note.

A wonderful, light read that provides insight into the immigrant experience, though this is not the typical immigrant experience. The characters are already middle class, speak strong English, and understand the culture of the US. However, they still stand out at school, and still struggle to mesh where they came from with where they are now. This serves as a fine introduction to Chinese New Year traditions, as well as to the differences between China and Taiwan. My seven-year-old absolutely loved it.

My daughter is reading and enjoying.

Must read for children in primary school; understanding other culture through stories are very important for children in this globalized world.

Wir fingen mit "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" an. Danach entdeckten wir "The Year of the Dog" und "The Year of the Rat" von Grace Lin. In unseren Dorf gibt es viele Kinder der asiatischen Herkunft. Die Pacy Lin Romane haben neue Weltanschauungen in unseren Töchtern geschafft und dazu ein neuen Respekt ihre Zweisprachigkeit entwickelt. Schöne Bücher vorm Schlafengehen zusammen zu lesen.

My daughter was so excited. She loves Grace Lin and is using this for her book report at school

I got this book for a translation project in college. Being Taiwanese American myself, I had sort of wanted a book like this as a child. However, some of the events and things mentioned in the book weren't exactly very Taiwanese. And most were just very outdated and weird. It was a good simple read for children I suppose. Wish some of the events were a bit more interesting though.