The Year of the Dog
Ratings4
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.3
It's the Chinese Year of the Dog, and as Pacy celebrates with her family, she finds out that this is the year she is supposed to "find herself." Universal themes of friendship, family, and finding one's passion in life make this novel appealing to readers of all backgrounds. This funny and profound book is a wonderful debut novel by a prolific picture book author and illustrator and has all the makings of a classic.
Featured Series
2 primary booksPacy is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2005 with contributions by Grace Lin.
Reviews with the most likes.
I really loved Grace Lin's fantasy stories, but as a teacher I'm constantly looking for new read alouds for my students that are out of my usual genre. I love fantasy stories, and I have a million great fantasy read alouds for kids, but hardly any realistic fiction, so I thought I'd try some of Lin's semi-autobiographical work. The Year of the Dog is the first in her series chronicling Pacy “Grace” Lin's childhood. Lin writes that she wanted to share her experience growing up as a Taiwanese American and to give Asian children a character to identify with.
The novel isn't exactly a page turner, but it might be a nice break from my usual read aloud fair. The chapters are short and feature the stories within stories which make her fantasy works so unique and powerful. She also isn't afraid to address racism and cultural barriers although their treatment is pretty glancing. As a teacher of many 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation immigrants, I think I might have to explore this with kids to see their reaction.
