The Year of the Dog

Title: The Year of the Dog
Author: Grace Lin
Series: Pacy Lin, book 1
Major Themes: China, Taiwan, Chinese-Americans
Synopsis: During the Year of the Dog, Pacy (Grace) learns what she is good at and makes new friends as she navigates living in her family’s Chinese culture and the American school she attends.

One thing I love about Sonlight Curriculum is the great books they choose, which I would never come across if we didn’t follow some of their guides. I have started using Sonlight’s Language Arts curriculum for my school children, and recently purchased the books we didn’t have to go along with the level of language arts my oldest schoolboy has just started working through. We already had, and I had already read, most of the books he will be reading, but there are a few new ones, so I am working on reading them ahead of him. One of those was The Year of the Dog. 

Pacy, known as Grace at school, loved her Taiwanese-American family, and she had a good friend at school. It didn’t bother her that she looked different from the other girls in her school in upstate New York, but when she learned that this Chinese New Year was the beginning of the Year of the Dog, and that according to Chinese tradition, it would be a good year for friends, family, and “finding herself,” she set herself some goals. This year, she would figure out what she was going to do with her life.

What was Pacy good at? What would she do as an adult? Could she become an actress? She tried out for a part in the school production of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” What about an artist? She loved copying the pictures that were on her new friend’s bedroom wall! What about a writer? Could she come up with a good idea for a book for the school writing/illustrating contest? Throughout the year, Pacy learns more and more about being a good friend and how to get along with her sisters. She also learns more and more about her Chinese culture and what it means, and how to live in two different cultures.

The Year of the Dog is a delightful book for girls (or boys! My son who is supposed to start reading it this week wanted it before I was finished!). The author wanted to capture the feel of books like B is for Betsy or Betsy-Tacy, and she did—in the context of a Chinese family! She told stories based on her girlhood, and worked in a lot of stories her parents and grandparents told, as well. This is a book that will be read several times in our family.

WARNING: Chapter 3: Gee. Chapter 12: Girls gossip about which girl a certain boy “likes,” and how each of them wants him for her boyfriend. Chapter 25: Celebrating Halloween.

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