Reviews

Dumpling Days by Grace Lin

poachedeggs's review

3.0

A cute little autobiographical tale about the author visiting Taipei and Taichung as a 10-year-old, and feeling odd about being a 'Twinkie'.

bethgiven's review

4.0

These books are for younger readers, but I still really like them. This is the third in the series about the childhood of the Taiwanese-American author and it's another charmer, a well-told story with cute doodled pictures to illustrate the happenings. I liked learning about Taiwan, the setting for this book, and the culture. My only complaint is that it made me hungry -- wish I had some dumplings, too! ;-)

wiseowl33's review

5.0

I love Grace Lin. What a great story... weaving old tales, good information about Taiwan and the culture, with a great story! Good book!

kikiduck's review

adventurous informative lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

vintage_b's review

4.0

Book Riot Prompt: Read a middle-grade book that does not take place in US or UK.

Pacy and her family go to Taiwan in this third installment. They are going for a big birthday celebration for her Grandmother's 60th birthday. While there Pacy gets to experience everything that makes Taiwan so beautiful the food and the culture, but she also experiences some not-so-pleasant things. Overall, she finds Taiwan is also home and is happy to be not only American but Taiwanese American. Loved the third book so far the most, probably because the food described made my mouth water for most of the story. I also found myself relating to Pacy and her unease with being in a home where she does not speak the language. I really hope there is more to her adventures and I have grown in love with Pacy and her family.

choosejoytoday's review

4.0

A companion to Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat, Dumpling Days is based on the author's childhood trip to Taiwan with her family. I liked how the name thing (the character who voices the story is Pacy, a nick name for Pei Se) and being a person who loves to learn what names mean, enjoyed the whole discussion of names, and name chops. The voice, as always, seems true to Pacy's age in life, and I love that the sibling drama has small moments of harmony among the usual discord.

suzannedix's review against another edition

4.0

Precious! 3 sisters think they are about to spend the worst summer of their life visiting family in Taiwan and find out dumplings every day certainly sweeten the deal! While not an autobiography I love how Grace Lin weaves true stories of her visits to Taiwan into Pacy's narration.

Grades 4 and up.

bethebookworm's review

5.0

I think this was my favorite Grace Lin book so far. To be honest, mostly because of the descriptions of food! But the characters were more well developed than Year of the Dog

boris8556's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

abigailbat's review

5.0

Sights, sounds, tastes, and smells - Grace Lin brings Taiwan to life in this heartwarming and hilarious story. Highly recommended. Although there are two previous Pacy books, this one stands alone quite nicely (but why wouldn't you want to go back and read more about Pacy?).

Full review on my blog: http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2011/12/dumpling-days.html