Can it be your homeland if you've never been there before?
That's the question Pacy ponders as she and her sisters, teenage Lissy and seven-year-old Ki-Ki, squirm uncomfortably in matching hot-pink denim dresses on her first flight to Taiwan in Dumpling Days. Her grandmother is turning 60, and the Lins are going to spend 28 days in Taiwan.
鈥淏eing on the airplane made me feel as if I were stuck in a plastic bottle,鈥� says Pacy, who doesn't speak Chinese and can't hold chopsticks 鈥渢he right way.鈥� She was accused of being a 鈥淭winkie鈥� 鈥� 鈥測ellow on the outside, but white on the inside鈥� 鈥� at a Taiwanese-American convention and is afraid people in Taiwan are going to feel the same way.
Initially, Pacy's fears seem realized: People can't understand why she doesn't speak Chinese and look right through her. Even her art class, something she was counting on enjoying, is no fun. Pacy always has been good at art, but drawing bamboo in ink on rice paper is much more difficult than she expects.
But there's one thing about Taiwan she loves from the first day: the food. It's best to read 鈥淒umpling Days鈥� with a snack handy, since Lin's descriptions will leave readers craving hand-pulled noodles, peach buns, mochi, pineapple cakes, and Pacy's favorite dumplings. (The chicken feet she tries by accident, stinky tofu, and wasabi aren't quite as high on her list of culinary delights.)
The Lins are in Taiwan for Ghost Month, when people honor their ancestors by burning paper money, clothes, shoes, computers, and even cars so the ghosts can be comfortable in the next world. Unable to talk to anyone besides her family, Pacy starts to feel like a ghost herself. 鈥淗ere, everyone had conversations that flew through me, like I was steam from freshly cooked rice. Sometimes I felt as if no one even saw me, and that made me hollow and empty.鈥�
The family's sightseeing trips and classes are interspersed with stories and folk tales told by relatives delighted to show the girls the real Taiwan. And, as Pacy settles in, she starts finding more to enjoy than the food.
Lin's last novel, 2009's 鈥淲here the Mountain Meets the Moon,鈥� combined 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥� and Chinese folk tales to magical effect.
鈥淒umpling Days,鈥� a continuation of her 鈥淵ear of the Dog鈥� and 鈥淵ear of the Rat,鈥� doesn't quite rise to the heights of that Newbery Honor book, but is charming, nonetheless. Like both of those books, it is based on the author's memories of growing up and features plenty of her whimsical ink drawings.
And this installment amply illustrates Pacy's father's point: 鈥淭raveling is always important 鈥� it opens your mind. You take something with you, you leave something behind, and you are forever changed. That is a good trip."
