Author: Grace Lin

Grace Lin writes and illustrates books connecting family life, cultural tradition, and the adjustments encountered while growing. Little, Brown first published The Year of the Rat in 2008. It is the second novel about Pacy Lin, following The Year of the Dog. As the Lunar New Year begins, Pacy faces changes that include a friend moving away and questions about where her own talents may lead. Lin presents those concerns through episodes, family conversations, and illustrations, allowing humor and uncertainty to coexist. The story draws on details of Taiwanese American home life without turning cultural practice into background decoration. Its calendar title gives change a place in the narrative, while observations by Pacy keep the focus personal. The author and illustrator role held by Lin is essential to the voice of the book because the drawings work beside the prose within the perspective. The Year of the Rat consequently continues a connected character story while standing as a focused account of friendship, adaptation, and observed family change across changing seasons.