dumpling days written by grace lin

Lin, Grace. Dumpling Days. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. ISBN: 9780316125901

Plot Summary:
     Pacy is a school aged girl whose home is in New York and always has been. Because she is Taiwanese-American, she doesn't look like all of the other kids in her schools, but she surely acts just like them. However, during this particular summer Pacy's parents decide to send her to Taiwan, as well as participate in a couple of art classes. She is apprehensive of this trip, but she gradually begins to learn the culture of her family.

Critical Analysis:
     Dumpling Days is the story of the struggles that Pacy faces with her cultural identity. The author, Grace Lin, allows Pacy to tell her own story providing her audience with a first point of view. Through the usage of this first person point of view, the audience is experiencing the impact and education of Taiwanese culture just as Pacy does. Lin incorporates some of the negative stereotypes that Taiwanese-American children encounter. For example, Pacy states that some of her peers refer to her as a twinkie - yellow on the outside and white on the inside. Along with the negative depictions that are presented, the author does a great job of providing accurate cultural representations by comparison. She finds ways to describe the differences between American culture and Taiwanese culture by comparing everyday items with each other such as how the toilets in Taiwan are incredibly high-tech versus the ones in America, and how the garbage trucks in Taiwan play the same tune as the ice cream trucks in New York. Throughout this novel, the author does a great job accurately depicting cultural identity for a Taiwanese-American girl as well as incorporating an accurate culturally representative novel that children can either relate to or learn from.

Review Excerpts:

"Pacy and her family travel to Taiwan for one month to celebrate her grandmother's 60th birthday, giving this Chinese-American girl another lens through which she can examine her identity. When Pacy's dad calls Taiwan an island of treasure, or bao dao, which sounds similar to the Chinese word for dumplings, she wonders--could Taiwan's treasure be food? In a companion novel to The Year of the Dog (2006) and The Year of the Rat (2008), gentle Pacy is back, brimming with questions of identity and self-discovery. At home in New York, Pacy is one of the few Asians in her class. She tries hard to fit in. In Taiwan, she looks similar to everyone else, but she doesn't speak Chinese or Taiwanese. So she doesn't fit in there either. Pacy's mom signs her up for a painting class, and Pacy is excited. She's a good artist; surely she'll make some friends. But painting with a bamboo brush on rice paper is difficult! The one talent that made her feel safe is suddenly gone; Pacy doesn't know who she is anymore or where she belongs. Luckily, there is a lot of loving family to surround her, and a lot of incredible food to eat (especially dumplings). This third outing is as warmhearted as the first two. Deftly weaving together historical anecdotes and simple line illustrations, Lin once again touches the heart of growing up in a multicultural family." - Kirkus Reviews

"Dumpling Days is a charming book about family and searching for identity. It is best suited for children nine to thirteen years old, but readers who grew up with a multicultural background will relate to the story. Ten-year-old Pacy struggles to find the balance between her two cultures, and the lessons she learns are relevant for everyone. Dumpling Days is sweet, fun, and honest; its vivid descriptions and amusing anecdotes will whet readers' appetites for dumplings." - VOYA

Connections:
More titles written by Grace Lin include: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Year of the Dog, and The Year of the Rat.

Interactivity:

• Ask children to research their family history and their heritage. 
• Ask children have they ever visited the area where their family is from; be it, a particular state from America or a different country.