'You know the story of why all the Chinese years are named after animals, right?' Mom said. 'They think the rat is very smart and charming,' Daddy said. 'Why?' Benji, Melody's younger brother, asked. But Chinese people actually admire rats.' 'In America,' Dad said, ignoring me, 'rats are looked down on. I didn't want a whole year of bad luck just because I said a couple of silly things. 'Or you'll bring bad things into the year.' 'You're not supposed to say anything rude or bad on the New Year,' Melody's mom said. 'Pacy,' Mom said in a way that meant 'behave.' She couldn't make any rude faces like she normally would with me.īut since it was my house, I didn't have to be polite. I could tell that since her parents were here and they were guests for dinner, she had to be polite. 'I liked last year better, when it was the Year of the Pig. 'Ugh, Year of the Rat,' Lissy said at the dinner table. There was barely enough room for our plates. So the platters of pork, yellow noodles, roasted duck, soft cotton-white steamed buns, fried dumplings, delicate silver fish, and vegetables so shiny they looked polished, crowded the table. There always has to be food left over after a Chinese New Year dinner because that means you'll have more than enough for the year. Mom had to make enough food for ten people (Melody also had five people in her family-two brothers and her parents) and leftovers. But since Melody and her family were also Taiwanese, they came to celebrate the New Year with us.Īs usual, the table was covered with food.

Before Melody moved to upstate New York, I always celebrated Chinese New Year with just my family-me, Ki-Ki, Lissy, Mom, and Dad-because we were the only Asian people in the area. It was the eve of Chinese New Year, and my best friend, Melody, and her family had come for the celebration dinner just as they had for the last two years. The clinking noises filled the air as the adults knocked glasses of wine against the kids' cups of juice. 'HAPPY YEAR OF THE RAT!' DAD SAID AS HE toasted us with his glass.

The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin