Posted By: Meredith Lesney
Posted On: November 28, 2016
This book was written by Grace Lin who is a Newbery Honor author. The story was told through the eyes of middle school aged Pacy who is a Taiwanese- American. Her family and she are off to Taiwan for a month to visit family and for the Grandmother's 60th birthday. It is Pacy's and her sister's first trip to Taiwan. Pacy's father described traveling as “Traveling is always important --- it opens your mind." Pacy is apprehensive; however, this story shows the adventurous spirit of Pacy with her sisters and family. She embraces her extended family and has some uncommon experiences such as eating chicken's feet. Pacy's mother signs her up for art classes. In the USA, Pacy was gifted in art, however, in Taiwan, it is a different story. Art seems difficult and making friends is twice as hard.
This book was extremely relatable to anyone who has spent time in a different country. She talks about eating dumplings, not understanding the language, buying a chop and having jet lag. The part that made me laugh was when the girls heard an ice cream truck. They all ran outside to get an ice cream, and it turned out to be a garbage truck. This book shows the cultural differences in Taiwan. Even though the story was written in a humorous way, it had a lot of educational value. It had a lot of in-depth information describing the culture and traditions such as the value of elders in Taiwan.
This book was familiar to me for I am a "Twinkie" as Pacy is called in the book. When I visited Asia for the first time, I had many of the same experiences as she did even though I was an adult. Eating unfamiliar food and getting accustomed to a different type of toilet is something that I never thought I would have experienced. The idea of eating pocky sticks and going to the market was something I experienced when I was in China.
I would most definitely recommend this book to any student in grades 4-8. The reading level was appropriate for this age group and the humor would be easily understood. It also carefully explained terms so that readers would not find the vocabulary confusing. It is interesting, funny, as well as educational. It truly explains the feelings of a young girl being put in an unfamiliar situation in a way middle schoolers can relate to.