Wong, S. Janet. 2002. APPLE PIE FOURTH OF JULY. Ill. Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Orlando, FL. ISBN 0-15-202543-X

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

Wong, S. Janet. 2002. APPLE PIE FOURTH OF JULY. Ill. Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Orlando, FL. ISBN 0-15-202543-X 

PLOT SUMMARY 

A young Chinese American girl spends the fourth of July helping at her family’s store. She notes the different fourth of July necessities the customers are coming in for like ice and matches and wonders how people will buy Chinese food on the fourth of July. After a long day of celebration transactions, customers pour into the store looking for Chinese food. At closing time her family goes to the rooftop to enjoy the fireworks for the fourth of July celebration.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS) 

The characters, which are a Chinese American family and customers, are portrayed as authentic and not stereotyped. The characters have different colored skin tones, varying lengths of hair and are portrayed with western clothing. The customers of the store shows us their interactions with different cultures. The family convenience store that also sells Chinese food to go is representative of the character’s environment. The Chinese to go boxes and chopsticks are representative of their cultural food, and we also see little details of a young child holding the American flag representing the fourth of July celebration. The Chinese food mentioned throughout such as Sweet-and-Sour Pork, egg rolls, noodles are all representative of the Chinese culture. Eating their apple pie while enjoying the fourth of July fireworks show the Chinese American culture throughout the story.  

Her frustration with her parents and how they eat Chinese food on fourth of July upset her as she says “my father has lived here since he was twelve, even though my mother loves apple pie, I cannot expect them to know Americans do not eat Chinese food on the fourth of July.” The illustrations evoke emotion from frowns to smiles for the balance of happy and sad moments. The ending where she is eating her apple pie we can see she finally celebrates the way she says American people celebrate with apple pie and fireworks. This fictional story of celebrating patriotism meets the criteria for Asian American characters celebrating the fourth of July. This story invites the reader to reflect on how the character feels upset that her parents who have lived in America continue to eat Chinese food on the fourth of July, yet people begin to stop by their store to buy the food as well and once the store closes for the night they celebrate with apple pie the way she has been wanting to celebrate. Through this we can see both her Chinese culture and American culture combine, representing her Chinese American life.  

REVIEW EXCERPTS 

Asian/ Pacific American Award for Literature Award, 2003 

Booklist starred, 08/01/02 

Kirkus Reviews, 04/15/02 

Multicultural Review, 09/01/02 

New York Times, 06/16/02 

Publishers Weekly, 04/08/02 

School Library Journal, 05/01/02 

Wilson’s Children 10/01/10 

Booklist starred (August 2002 (Vol. 98, No.22)): “This excellent read-aloud will partner well with books that emphasize American patriotism, such as Lynne Cheney’s American: A Patriotic Primer.” 

Horn Book Guide (Fall, 2002): “The immigrant experience is handled with good humor; the cheerful mixed-media art portrays cultural details in a matter-of-fact way.” 

Kirkus Reviews (April 15, 2002): “In the end, the story comes full circle as the girl heads to the rooftop to watch the fireworks with her family and friends from the neighborhood, on the final spread, she eats a piece of apple pie. All at once, cultural boundaries don’t seem quite as defined.” 

CONNECTIONS 

The librarian or teacher can lead a discussion with questions about the Chinese culture with the readers.  

Students can illustrate their favorite memory of fourth of July celebrations or simply draw themselves.  

Reading more books about Chinese Americans and holiday experiences can help readers see the experiences some families have in America.  

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Zhang, Kat. AMY WU AND THE PERFECT BAO. ISBN 978-1-53441-134-0 

Chen, Shan Shan. MEI-MEI'S LUCKY BIRTHDAY NOODLES. ISBN 978-0-8048-4978-4