From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–A lighthearted coming-of-age novel with a cultural twist. Readers follow Grace, an American girl of Taiwanese heritage, through the course of one year–The Year of the Dog–as she struggles to integrate her two cultures. Throughout the story, her parents share their own experiences that parallel events in her life. These stories serve a dual purpose; they draw attention to Graces cultural background and allow her to make informed decisions. She and her two sisters are the only Taiwanese-American children at school until Melody arrives. The girls become friends and their common backgrounds illuminate further differences between the American and Taiwanese cultures. At the end of the year, the protagonist has grown substantially. Small, captioned, childlike black-and-white drawings are dotted throughout. This is an enjoyable chapter book with easily identifiable characters.
–Diane Eddington, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Hardcover
edition.
From AudioFile
Young Pacy, who is known as Grace outside her Taiwanese-American family, is navigating the challenges of growing up "different" in an upstate New York community. Nancy Wu brings this memoir alive, giving the listener insight into an unfamiliar culture. She gives an American accent to Pacy and Chinese accents to her parents, illustrating how quickly the children of immigrants become assimilated into their new culture. As Pacy tells stories of her mother's childhood experiences, which often parallel her own struggles, Wu's authoritative voice introduces listeners to Chinese culture, also letting them see the commonalities among families of all cultures. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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