The book that I was reading is called Dumpling Days, and the author is Grace Lin or Pacy Lin ( Pacy is her Chinese name.) The main character is Grace Lin or Pacy Lin ( This book is about the author, that’s why the main character has the same name as the author.) Pacy has two sisters and a big family, her sisters are Lissy and Kiki. She has an uncle but she doesn’t know his name so she calls him Uncle Flower, she has a dad and a mom, and a lot more siblings. The main character is trying to get better at painting because in another book, The Year Of The Dog, Grace got the 3rd place award in making books for all schools and Grace made a picture book with her drawings in it and when she takes a trip to China she has to go to a painting class. There is a girl who makes mean faces to her so Grace thinks of her as an enemy. Who Grace tries to be a better painter than the girl that is mean to Grace in Grace’s painting class. This book takes place in China because Grace took a trip to China for the first time also to see her family there.
Grace is not having the best time in China. She is having trouble speaking chinese, she feels like people are bullying her. She gets really sad and feels like she wants to go home when she goes to a night market. Grace might be able to win the art contest, will she beat her part-enemy? Grace has another problem, when people come up to her and speak chinese to her, Grace’s mom tells them they she can’t speak chinese ( this is how you say it in chinese —> wo bu hui swo xiong wo. ← that is how you say I can’t speak chinese, in chinese ) “How did I say I couldn’t speak Chinese, again? I couldn’t remember. What were those words Mom had taught us on the train?” “Meiguoren! Meiguoren! I said. That was the only word I could remember. American. She had the same look in her eyes as that mean bus driver in New Hartford from so long ago. My cheeks burned red as if her words were slapping my face. “Meiguoren! Meiguoren!” I said again, stupidly-like a parrot. I didn’t know what else to say. I felt like crying. “What’s up?” Clifford said, grabbing my arm. The woman yelled something at him. “ Dui Bu Qi, dui bu qi,” he said as he waved her away, and nudges me toward the road. “Sorry, sorry.” I saw her shake her head in disapproval and disgust as Clifford dragged me away. “She was mad at me!” I said to Clifford. “She wasn’t mad, exactly,” he said. “She just didn’t understand why you couldn’t speak Chinese.” A heavy feeling fell upon me. Like a crushing boulder.”
I enjoyed this book a lot. I like it because Grace is Chinese, like me. I like this book because I’ve been to China before. I also like this book because Grace is very much like me. Another reason I like this book is because the setting is in China. I would recommend this book to chinese kids because they might relate to this book. I would recommend this book to 8-12 year olds. I think a lot of people would like this book, maybe even adults. I like this book a lot and so does Clarissa (my sister) and Olivia P (my friend). I would recommend this book to asian kids too. I like it a lot so I think kids around 4th or 3rd grade would like it too. I would rate this book five stars out of five, 5 ***** out of 5 *****. If I could I would rate this book 10 stars!