Book Review: THIS NEXT NEW YEAR

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wong, Janet S. 2000. THIS NEXT NEW YEAR. New York: Frances Foster. ISBN 0374355037.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
The story is about a family celebrating the Lunar New Year and preparing luck ornaments and mascots for having luck and fortune, happiness and health in whole coming year. The protagonist, a Chinese-Korean boy, not only introduces how he and his families celebrate the Chinese New Year, but also identifies the Lunar New Year and depicts the things of other races do as well as their perspectives of the traditional rituals in Chinese New Year.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Being an insider author, Janet’s story provides great cultural markers that connect to Chinese-Korean culture in the text and illustrations. Although the traditional rituals and customs of Chinese New Year spontaneously involves many cultural markers, such as the dragon dance and tiger dance, red envelopes and lanterns, Janet depicts the deeper meanings of these customs from other racial perspectives. Janet also provides clear and realistic portrayals of food and clothing in this holiday focusing on her original culture which present other cultural markers. It is help readers explore their own formulates of deeper meanings in this holiday.

Even though no Chinese or Korean dialects are used in the text, language is one element to make this book successful. Janet organizes simple sentences with rhymes and rhythm as well as compares these sentences with vivid illustrations on each page to enhance interests for reading and allure readers complete reading at one time. It's a vivid and beautiful, and well-written book which provides information for readers an authentic understanding of the Lunar New Year.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Children's Literature: “Through a young boy's eves we experience the joys and anticipation leading up to the lunar New Year, the Chinese New Year. Lunar New Year is celebrated at a different time each year because it depends on when the new moon occurs. It is a time for hope and a second chance. A time to reach for your dreams. Yangsook Choi brings the celebration vividly to life with her bright, vibrant pictures.”

School Library Journal: “Wong carefully and clearly presents the reasons behind the rituals in a manner understandable to young children. She explains in an appended note about her own confusion as a child about the timing and meaning of the holiday. Choi's vibrant, somewhat primitive paintings realistically capture the details of and preparations for this hopeful time of year. Youngsters will enjoy the bright colors and the sense of motion and activity conveyed as the boy helps his mother clean, flosses his teeth, and cringes from the noise of the firecrackers. A good choice for anyone getting ready to celebrate Chinese New Year.”
Kirkus Reviews: “ Wong's (Night Garden, 1999, etc.) poetic voice creates art from the ordinary. Choi's (Nim and the War Effort, 1996, etc.) lively, two page spreads in bright colors, perfectly complement the energetic text, adding visual reinforcement to the scenes described by the narrator.”

Hom Book: "The concepts of renewal, starting over, and luck, which inform many of the rituals, will resonate with young readers, and the narrator's personal impression of the celebration makes this a refreshing departure from the standard nonfiction holiday-introduction fare."
Comments from the Author: “For me, the Lunar New Year is truly a time of hope. Once I have failed all the crazy new year's resolutions I routinely make on January 1st, here it is—I have a second chance, a fresh start. I hate cleaning house but I love a clean house, and each Lunar New Year's Eve, I madly rush around dusting and mopping and clearing my desk, making room for some good luck to settle. And then, on Lunar New Year's Day, I feel great. I eat well for a few extra weeks. I walk. Why couldn't this happen at any other time of the year? It could—and should! Teachers and librarians might want to read this book at the beginning of the "real" new year for most of us—the beginning of the school year, in September!”

E. CONNECTIONS
Official website for Janet S. Wong
http://www.janetwong.com/index.cfm

Awards and Honors
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award
Nick Jr. "Best Holiday Book[s] of 2000"

Other picture books related to Chinese New Year
· My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz.
· D is for Dragon Dance by Ying Chang.
· The Runway Rice Cake by Ying Chang.
· Chinatown by William Low.
· Bring in the New Year by Grace Lin.
· Long-Long’s New Year: A Story about the Chinese spring Festival by Catherine Gower.
· My Chinatown: One Year in Poems by Kam Mak.
· Chinese New Year by David F. Max.
· Chinese New Year by Judith Jango-Cohen.
· Celebrating Chinese New Year by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith.
· Chinese New Year: Festival of New Beginnings by Terri Sievert.
· My Chinese New Year by Monica Hughes.
· Chinese New Year by Julie Murray.
· Chinese New Year Crafts by Karen E. Bledsoe.
· Chinese New Year by Dianne M. MacMillan.
· Dragon Parade: A Chinese New Year Story by Steven A. Chin.
· Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan’s Chinese New Year by Kate Waters and Madeline Slovenz-Low.
· The Dragon New Year: A Chinese Legend by David Bouchard.
· Happy New Year!: Kung-his Fa-ts’ai! by Demi.
· Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats : A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities
& Recipes by Simonds, Nina.

Book Review: HOW MY PARENTS LEARNED TO EAT.

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen.1984. HOW MY PARENTS LEARNED TO EAT. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395442354.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
The protagonist is a Japanese American girl whose mother is Japanese and father is an American sailor. Her parents meet and fall in love when her father’s ship is stationed in Yokohama. They both enjoy spending time talking and walking on the street, having a wonderful time to get together. However, they both are afraid of making a date to meet and eat because they do not know how to use each other’s eating implement like, forks, knives and chopsticks. In order to make a deep impression to each other and show their love, her mother learns to use forks and knives and her father practices eating noodles with chopsticks. Finally they can have dates and eat together in both eastern and western restaurants. Now it is natural in the protagonist’s family to eat with chopsticks some days and with knives and forks other days.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Say’s stories present magnificent cultural markers which connect to Japanese culture; therefore, it is easy to find Japanese cultural makers in this book. For example, on the cover, it shows local Japanese food courts decorated with signs in Japanese characters and traditional ornaments, such as red lamplights on streets. Meanwhile, it also show Japanese styled tables and stools in outdoor noodle shops and the ways the customer standing in line to order food to eat with chopsticks in front of the chef presenting people’s ordinary life on the street as cultural markers. Skin tones, facial figures and hair styles in the illustrations present cultural markers. Say also presents traditional and contemporary Japanese lives in the clothing, foods, dishes, and kitchen appliances through his illustrations. For example, the elders and waitresses wear kimonos and slippers with their hair in a bun style. Women in younger generations have straight hair and wear skirts with high heels. Men wear lightly colored shirts and pants. People eat sushi, sukiyaki and soup with chopsticks and they bow to each other, display other cultural marker.

Language plays less important roles to identify cultural markers in this book. In addition, the names of the protagonist’s mother, two food names and few Japanese characters on street signs, it is difficult to find Japanese words and sounds in the text. It is good for reading but less relates to cultural markers. In order to present the protagonist feels free to live in two different cultural life style, Say provides the eastern life style, wear kimono, eat Japanese food with chopstick in the first page, and the western life style in the last page, such as wearing a dress with an eating clothe, eating with a fork and a knife. The author is also very careful to combine the different cultural kitchen utensils in these two pages, such as a rice cooker, a pepper mill, a toaster and, a Japanese tea can and tea pot in the last page to show cultural differences in a very detail.

This book provides realistic portrayals of people’s lives in Yokohama after World War II and how they accommodate with conflicts in cross-culture; however, Say does not explore the cultural values, facts and attitudes in depth; therefore, readers can not formulate informed thought by themselves.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
From the Publisher: “An American sailor courts a young Japanese woman and each tries, in secret, to learn the other's way of eating.”
School Library Journal: “The book is wonderfully thought-provoking in its portrayal of the subtle similarities and differences among cultures.”

Reading Rainbow: “An American sailor courts a Japanese girl and each tries, in secret, to learn the other's way of eating. The two discover that when learning to eat using different tableware, manners, and customs, people often encounter problems, as well as triumphs.”

E. CONNECTIONS

Official website for Allen Say
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/
Video clip in YouToBe
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gPtSl_kUrPc
Video clip in PBS
http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/books/hearmore/039c.html
Learn more about Japanese
http://www.amphi.com/~psteffen/fmf/information.htm

Book Review: THE EARTH DRAGON AWAKES

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yep, Laurence. 2006. THE EARTH DRAGON AWAKES. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. ISBN 0060275243.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
The main plot of is about two families’ survival in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906; one is an American family and another is a Chinese family. Henry was born into a wealthy family and lived in an upper level community. He is only child in the Travis family; however, his parents are both too busy with their business and social lives to take care of him. Ah Sing is the houseboy of the Travis family and his son, Chin, is the best friend of Henry. Although Chin cannot speak English very well, Ah Sing insists that he lives in Chinatown, and Chin has to go to a Chinese school to maintain his Chinese culture. The earthquake happened during the night while everyone is sleeping. It destroys all the property of Chin’s family. They run away from Chinatown and stay with a fisherman in Oakland to make money for living. The fierce fire comes after the earthquake and forces Henry’s family to give up all their properties and run to safety. Finally, two family members meet after the earthquake nearly three days later and have a short happy reunion in the Bay area. After everything calms down, the Travis family decides to go home San Francisco and rebuild their house. Chin and his father have to stay with the fisherman to earn money. There is one strong belief that both Henry and Chin share; that is someday they will live together.

C. CITICAL ANALYSIS
The dragon is a symbol or cultural marker at the very beginning of every segment of the story. The characters have Chinese names, such as Ah Sing and Ah Quon; Yep does not clearly address cultural markers like facial features, skin tones, hair styles, and clothing and body types in the text. Signs and decorations on the buildings, and the pattern and tempo of people’s lives in Chinatown are other cultural markers that identify Chinese immigrants. Mahjong, a traditional game for leisure time in the Chinese culture, is also mentioned in the text. Like other Chinese immigrants, Ah Sing insists on living in Chinatown and sending Chin to Chinese school to keep his cultural awareness and Chinese identity.

The culture of the people in this story is Chinese and the protagonist is a second generation immigrant in America. Although Ah Shing persists in maintaining his Chinese culture through his son, there are no Chinese characters, verbal sounds or dialects in the text which allow the readers to catch the storyline. The main issue depicts two different cultural families overcoming an unpredictable tragedy involving their cultural values and an attitude. Chin and his father are not reluctant to leave their tenements after the earthquake and stay in an unknown new place. Comparatively, Henry’s families hesitate to leave their houses and insist on going back and rebuilding their home. The fluent writing flow and short versions of each segment in a journal format enhances the way to compare and create a whole picture of what happened during the earthquake from different points of time. Although the story is non-linear without the beginning, culmination or ending, the author consistently describes the story by time lines.

D.REVIEW EXCERPTS
Children's Literature: “I must start by stating that Laurence Yep is one of my favorite authors for children's books and this book has not changed my mind in any way. The characters in this story learn many lessons—how disasters bring out the best and worse in people, how heroes are made from ordinary people, and how people find strength from within that they never knew they had to start over and rebuild their lives. Yep is an excellent writer and writes this story about the different perspectives of two young friends. I highly recommend this book.”

School Library Journal: “Yep's research is exhaustive. He covers all the most significant repercussions of the event, its aftershocks, and days of devastating fires, and peppers the story with interesting true-to-life anecdotes. Its "natural disaster" subject is both timely and topical, and Yep weaves snippets of information on plate tectonics and more very neatly around his prose. A solid supplemental choice.”

Kirkus Reviews: “Simple sentence structure and the use of present tense throughout make this a very accessible introduction. With little character development, the focus is on what rather than the whom. Still, this is solid historical fiction full of details about the times and backed up with an afterword explaining the author's connection and suggesting sources for further reading. It is notable especially for the attention paid to the experience of San Francisco's Chinese immigrants, and a good choice for reluctant readers.”

F.CONNECTIONS
Other literature related to Chinese American
· Ruthanne Lum McCunn. Pie-Biter.
· Allen Say. El Chino.
· Andrea Chang. Goldfish and Chrysanthemums.
· Andrea Cheng. Shanghai Messenger.
· Belle Yang. Hannah Is My Name.
· Bernard Ashley. Cleversticks.
· Carol Stepanchuk. Exploring Chinatown: A Children’s Guide to Chinese Culture.
· Eleanor Coerr. Chang’s Pape r Pony.
· Ellen Levine. I Hate English.
· Gene Luen Yang. American Born Chinese.
· Ginnie Lo. Mahjong All Day Long.
· Grace Lin. Year of the Dog.
· Huy Voun Lee. In the Leaves.
· Kam Mak. My Chinatown: One Year in Poems.
· Karen Chinn. Sam & the Luck Money.
· Katrina Saltonstall Currier. Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain.
· Laurence Yep. Dream Soul.
· Laurence Yep. The Lost Garden.
· Laurence Yep. Magic Paintbrush.
· Lenore Look. Ruby Lu, Brave and true.
· Lenore Look. Henry’s First Moon Birthday.
· Lenore Look. Uncle Peter’s Amazing Chinese Wedding.
· Lensey Namioka. An Ocean Apart, A World Away.
· Lensey Namioka. Ties That Bind, Ties That Break.
· Mary Anne Fraser. Ten Mile Day.
· Milly Lee. Landed.
· Paul Yee. Dead Man’s Gold and other Stories.
· Paul Yee. A Song for Ba.
· Susan M. Nunes. The Last Dragon.
· Tin. Brothers.
· Valerie Petrillo. A Kid’s Guide to Asian American History.
· Yin and Lee Patricia Gauch. Coolies.