“In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson”
by Bette Bao Lord, illustrations by Mac Simont
Harper & Row, New York, 1984, 169 pages, grades 4-6.
What would it be like to arrive in the United States from China in 1947? You come from a traditional family that has extended back for generations. Elders make all the decisions for the family and children are expected to be seen and not heard. This is especially true for girl children.
Gulping for air, you arrive in San Francisco and cannot believe everything that is in front of you. Everyone is shouting at the train station and your mother is clutching your hand so that you do not disappear into some American black hole. Trying not to appear terrified, you are carried by the belief that your father is waiting for you and that American life will be fulfilling.
With this swirl of emotions, Bette Bao Lord has written a compelling account of her admittance into American life in this fine novel, “In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.”
Grandfather Wong is shamed that his youngest son has left China to settle in the United States. America is surely a land of barbarians and not cultured like China. Now a letter has arrived from the son. In the letter he tells his father to send his wife and daughter to the United States. Grudgingly accepting this decision, he decides to name his granddaughter before she leaves for the United States. The only person they have ever heard of in the United States is Shirley Temple, so the old man names the girl Shirley Temple Wong.
After a tumultuous ocean voyage across the Pacific Ocean and a long train ride across the United States, Shirley’s father meets them at the New York train station and takes them to their new home in Brooklyn. Shirley is very surprised to see that the houses do not have pictures of Chinese gods on the front doors. How will these houses be protected?
More confusion ensues. Her teacher at Public School #8 winks at her to make her feel welcome. Thinking that this is what Americans do to show friendship, she does it repeatedly during her first day at school. The problem is that she closes both eyes when she tries to do this. The teacher quickly writes a letter to her parents to have her eyes tested as she appears to have a nervous eye twitch. Everything at school is new. The language is strange, the customs don’t make sense, and Shirley feels desperate and alone.
One day she sees the children playing stickball. She is invited to play this urban version of baseball. Quickly, she catches baseball fever. That summer the Brooklyn Dodgers are playing in the National League pennant race. Each night Shirley eagerly listens on the radio to the game. Through the Brooklyn Dodgers and especially Jackie Robinson, she finds acceptance. How does this happen?
This book is simply marvelous. Bette Wong’s work of fiction is actually based on her own integration into American society. In scene after scene, readers are treated to hysterical accounts of cultural mishaps. Throughout Shirley’s American miscues, we see the best sides of American culture and the impact that baseball has on all the citizens of New York.
As well, readers understand why Shirley decides to value her new culture and her Chinese heritage. This is a well-written, funny story that will keep you wanting to see what happens next.
Please check out this title, it is a delightful read. Enjoy!
