Dumpling Days

Dumpling Days Grace Lin

Pacy and her family are off to Taiwan for the summer. Pacy and her sisters are NOT looking forward to it. When they get there, it's hard. Everything is new and overwhelming. They don't speak the language and can't read signs. At home, they were the only Asian family and could feel out of place. In Taiwan they look like everyone else, but still don't fit. Through it all, Pacy learns more about straddling two cultures and gains appreciation for what her parents must have gone through when they moved to the US.

I'm a big fan of all of Grace Lin's works and this is a great addition to her largely autobiographical Pacy series. The tone is light and often funny and the sprinkled in simple line drawings add a lot to the text.

But this book proves that Lin and I should be friends because she goes to Taiwan AND SHE EATS ALL THE DUMPLINGS. Pacy looooooooooooooooooooooooves dumplings and orders them at almost every meal. By doing this, she eats a lot of different kinds of dumplings. I got SO HUNGRY reading this book. Good thing Mala Tang has several dumpling options for me to choose from.

But really, I mean, last time I went to China, Dan and I had the following conversation:

Dan: What do you want to do while we're in Shanghai?
Me: EAT ALL THE DUMPLINGS.
Dan: Ha ha. Seriously though, what do you want to see while we're there?
Me: Seriously. I want to see places that serve dumplings.

I ate so many dumplings on that trip. Here's a picture of me eating xiaolongbao  (soup dumplings) in Shanghai. That steamer used to be full. I did NOT share with Dan. In the book, Lin's relatives tell her that if you can eat soup dumplings without spilling, you're a true Chinese. I'm not about to claim that I'm Chinese, but I don't spill my dumplings.

So, as Pacy is obviously a girl after my own heart, of course I love her. (Now I want more dumplings...)

Book Provided by... my local library

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Reviews published elsewhere

Hey all, in my ongoing desire to have Biblio File be a log of everything I read, I point you to some reviews I wrote for this month's School Library Journal. You'll have to scroll down as they're in alphabetical order by author's last name. Also, they're both about China. I'm sure this is a shock.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

If you don't want to click and scroll, it did get a starred review and my thoughts are:

TOTALLY AWESOME!

But if you want me to use complete sentences, you'll have to go read it.

Also, what isn't said in the review is this would be an excellent chapter-at-bedtime story for younger kids who can't read it on their own and I liked it tons better than The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat, even though I really liked both of those.

Chenxi and the Foreigner Sally Rippin

My abbreviated thoughts: an interesting look at the build up to Tiananmen.

Further thoughts: Anna, as a narrator annoyed me, but that's because every time she ran up against on of China's idiosyncrasies, she freaked out and I wanted to scream "Dude! It's China! What did you expect?!" That said, I think most teen readers, especially those who haven't spent a lot of time in China and/or those who aren't well-versed in its recent history, will not have the same reaction and their feelings with be much closer to Anna's.

The Year of the Good Book

I'm trying out Amazon's new MP3 widget in my sidebar. You can listen to a 30 second clip of my top songs at the moment and buy them if you so choose. Amazon MP3s are DRM free which means you can put them on your iPod! yay! Trust me, Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go will be the best $.99 you'll ever spend. Because it's "Tainted Love" and then it morphs perfectly into a little Baby, baby, baby where did our love go? while still maintaining the "Tainted Love" feel. It totally works. Also, I'm a big fan of This Is Us which is what my sister and her husband recessed to at their wedding. This is us on our wedding day... on our way to a barbecue which is exactly what it was...

Other musical things you wouldn't think work, but totally do:



Anyway, by this time you're thinking "Jennie, this isn't a music blog. It's a book blog. Get on with it already..."

So, we have a Fusion Story today. But this Fusion Story is a sequel, so I had to read the first book first. Yes, I'm anal. SHUT UP! I'm a librarian, I'm supposed to be! It's what they pay me for.

The Year of the Dog Grace Lin

This story starts and ends with Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Dog, which is the year that Grace was born in, so it's supposed to be a lucky year. It's also supposed to be the year where she discovers what her gift is, but she's having a hard time of it! Maybe a new friend, Melody, can help Grace discover her gifts, or at least be a good partner for adventure along the way.

Very episodic in plot, this book draws heavily from Lin's life, so it's extremely realistic and covers day-to-day life perfectly. It's so heavily drawn from Lin's life that it turns out that Melody is really Alvina of Blue Rose Girls (where Lin also blogs!)

Lin's illustrations are sprinkled throughout, as are special side stories from Chinese tradition, family stories, and stories of what happened to Grace before The Year of the Dog. Very fun and a great recommendation for 3rd graders.

The Year of the Rat Grace Lin

This is actually the Fusion Story. It takes place a few years after The Year of the Dog, once again starting with Chinese New Year. The Year of the Rat is a year of change and this year brings a big one-- Melody is moving to California!

Grace knows she wants to be an author and illustrator when she grows up, but she hears that being an artist is a "cold door" and that she might starve! If being an artist is a "cold door" should she try and find something else to do?

Then a new Chinese family who just moved to the US from China move into Melody's old house. Their son, Dun-Wei is Grace's age and everyone thinks they should go together, just because they're both Chinese! Grace doesn't want to be stuck with the new kid "Dumb Way" but if she sticks up for him when the other kids tease him, she might be stuck...

If you liked the first one, you'll love this one. It's longer and Grace handles some bigger issues that face all kids. I especially "liked" (that's really not the word I'm looking for) how the kids changed "Dun-Wei" into "Dumb Way" mainly because of this conversation:

Mark (my boyfriend at the time): What's your name in Chinese Class?
Me: Wei Rong [Wei being one of the 3 Kingdoms and Rong meaning hibiscus flower]
Mark: Wait, your name is WAY WRONG?

Let's just say Way Wrong stuck. But it was a good dodge in Chinese class when I got called on and completely botched the answer "Dui bu qi. Wei Rong is WAY WRONG. Can you call on someone else? Xie Xie"