The Dumpling Days is the third book in award-winning author Grace Lin's series about the fun, colorful life of Pacy Lin. Pacy is a middle school-aged Taiwanese-American girl who is trying to find her place in the world as she grows up in these coming of age books. Pacy considers herself mostly American but has grown up eating traditional Taiwanese food and much of the heritage carries through to her daily life. For this reason, she has always felt like she wasn't 100% like all of the other American girls. In this book, she takes a trip to Taiwan, and although some things are familiar, she finds some things are NOT. She has many adventures seeing new sights and taking a Chinese art class. She notices things that are completely foreign to her, too, such as the public toilet system and some of the strange things that people eat. The book is filled with amusing family stories such as "Thanking the Emperor." These stories help Pacy's family explain her culture, and why things are the way they are. One such story tells about a heartache her grandmother went through when she lived oppressed by military police. The family was so poor that Grandma had to give her baby up for adoption. That one paragraph is about as serious as this book gets. It is heartwarming and light, and refreshing to read about such a supportive and loving family. During this trip, Pacy struggles to find her identity and returns a richer person for the experience. This book is completely wholesome and is a great choice for skilled elementary school readers up through middle school.
