The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin

The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin is a wonderful story about friendship and family life told from the perspective of an Asian-American girl. The book is about a girl, also named Grace Lin who has to get through the year of the dog. Grace faces many challenges because of her race during the book and doesn’t always break through them, like in the real world.

One of the more original parts of the book, and all the books Lin writes, is that she includes little stories told by Grace’s mother to teach her some lessons or just to amuse her and her sisters Lissy and Ki-Ki. The year of the dog is a year where you find yourself and find friends. Grace tries tons of things that she thinks she might be talented at, but no, she can’t find anything that she really likes until a book contest. This book is very entertaining and engrossing.

Grace Lin has also written various other books about Chinese stories or about Grace. One of my favorites is Where the Mountain Meets the Moon this book has been awarded the Newberry Honor Award and is very interesting. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is about a girl, Minli, who lives in the Vally of Fruitless Mountain, where her parents and her spend their days working hard to get enough money to buy food. Minli decides to find the Old Man of the Moon and to ask him to bring good fortune to her family. Minli finds a friend, a dragon who can’t fly, on the way to the mountain and they travel together from then on. There are many twists and turns in this book and the book is unlike anything else.