The Year of the Dog

The students learn that they will be performing The Wizard of Oz. Because she loves the book and movie so much, Pacy wants to audition for the part of Dorothy. Melody decides to play in the orchestra. All week, Pacy practices the songs, but on the day of the auditions, her friend Becky tells her that she cannot be Dorothy because Dorothy is not a Chinese person. Shattered and angry at herself for thinking that she could play this role, Pacy does not try out for the part. Instead, she gets the role of a munchkin.

Later, Pacy asks Melody why “Chinese people are never important” (71) and notes that there are very few people who look like them in film or books. Pushing back, Melody talks about the news anchor on television and insists that there must be books with Chinese characters. They find one in the library, but when Pacy declares it to be unrealistic, she vows to write her own book.

When Pacy tells Ms. McCurdy her plan to write a book that has a Chinese American character, her teacher is excited and encourages Pacy to write about her own experiences. Despite this support, Pacy feels stuck because she does not think that there is anything exciting about her life.