46 pages • 1 hour read
Grace LinThe Year of the Dog
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial and Social Context: Grace Lin and Diverse Texts
Author and illustrator Grace Lin has penned a wide range of children’s books, from picture stories to middle grade novels. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design, she published her first book, The Ugly Vegetables, in 1999. Since then, her work has garnered numerous awards, including the 2010 Newbery Honor book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, the 2011 Theodore Geisel Honor early reader Ling and Ting, and the 2019 Caldecott Honor picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Her own experiences, culture, and identity serve as fodder for much of her work, and this also holds true for The Year of the Dog. Additionally, Lin’s artwork was put on display in the White House when former President Obama recognized her as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling. In 2022, Lin also received the Children’s Literature Legacy Award from the American Library Association.
Additionally, Lin is an advocate for diversity in literature. As a regular commentator on New England Public Radio, a TEDx speaker, and a writer for PBS, she has contributed to a growing movement that values diverse voices and stories and emphasizes the importance of allowing young people to see themselves reflected in the literature they read and to learn more about others whose lives differ from their own. Lin sits on the advisory board for We Need Diverse Books, a non-profit organization devoted to amplifying diverse voices in the publishing industry. Her passion for representation in literature is evident in The Year of the Dog when Pacy is discouraged from auditioning for the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, which incites her reflection on the lack of Chinese characters in books and film. The result is that Pacy writes a book of her own, titled The Ugly Vegetables. This detail highlights Lin’s talent for using her own life experiences to inspire her work.
Cultural Context: Taiwanese Culture and the Experience of a Bicultural Upbringing
The Year of the Dog celebrates Pacy’s Taiwanese culture, beginning with the Lunar New Year celebration and extending into other traditions like her cousin Albert’s red egg party. Typically, the Lunar New Year (which Pacy often refers to as the Chinese New Year) begins with the first full moon on the lunar calendar (usually the end of January or beginning of February) and continues for 15 days until the first full moon. In preparation, families thoroughly clean their homes to remove bad luck, and Pacy’s family indulges in new clothes and haircuts every year. They also prepare an array of foods, symbolizing prosperity and good fortune. During the celebration, children receive red envelopes, hong bao, that contain money. Pacy’s mother also shares that it is typical for children to stay awake as long as possible, in accordance with the belief that the longer they fight off sleep, the longer their parents will live. Each new year is assigned an animal from the Chinese zodiac cycle; in the novel, it is the Year of the Dog. Because dogs are considered to be just, loyal, and kind-hearted, this year is deemed lucky and is believed to be an ideal time to find oneself. In addition to the Lunar New Year, Pacy’s family also celebrates a red egg party for her newborn cousin, Albert. Also symbolizing good fortune, red eggs are scattered around the house to celebrate the baby’s life.
By embracing her family’s Taiwanese culture and American traditions, Pacy experiences a range of rewards and challenges due to her bicultural upbringing. For example, at Thanksgiving, her family indulges in the traditional turkey and sweet potatoes but supplements the meal with dumplings, fried fish, and other Taiwanese fare. However, despite the benefits of acculturating, Pacy struggles with microaggressions from others and grapples with her own questions about her identity. For example, being one of the only students of color in her school, she is confused with another Asian American student named Melody and is almost denied a school lunch because of it. Also, after her encounter at the Taiwanese American Convention (TAC), in which she is belittled for not being able to speak Chinese or Taiwanese, Pacy confesses, “To Americans, I’m too Chinese, and to Chinese people, I’m too American. So which am I supposed to be?” (105). This question highlights a major struggle for people whose heritage encompasses two cultures, for they often find it difficult to forge a sense of belonging within each of their cultural identities. However, Pacy’s mother claims that Pacy can be as much or as little of either culture as she wants to be. Pacy’s coming-of-age story is therefore designed to represent the experience of many young people who belong to more than one culture.
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