Apple Pie 4th Of July by Janet S. Wong

1.  Bibliography
Wong, Janet S.  2002.  APPLE PIE 4TH OF JULY.  Ill. by Margaret Chodo-Irvine.  New York:  Harcout Inc.  ISBN 9780152025434


2.  Plot Summary
Its the Fourth of July and nobody eats Chinese food on this American holiday.  The food at the restaurant is going bad while people buy everything but Chinese food.  "No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July, I say.  "My parents do not understand all American things.  They were not born here" (14).  By dinner time customers come to the store to buy dinner.  Eventually, it is time to close the store and watch the fireworks and eat apple pie. 

3.  Critical Analysis
The characters in the story are a Chinese family with a young daughter who run a convenience store that serves Chinese food.  The daughter keeps telling her family that people don't want Chinese food on an American holiday, but in the end of the story people want the food no matter what day it is.  In America all of the culture are one is the theme in the story.
The text does not include any descriptions of the skin colors or features of the characters.  The words in the story describe the food in the story which is a give away for the American Chinese culture.  "...Chow mein in our kitchen" (5).  There are no names of the characters in the story.  They are only mom, dad, and the daughter.  The language pattern and dialect are English.  The food in the story and reference to nobody wanting to eat Chinese food are the only indicators in the story that makes it part of the American Chinese culture.
The illustrations show the facial features and hair color to make the characters Asian.  They have tan skin and dark hair.  The environment that they live in and the clothing they wear are American.  There is nothing to distinguish them to make them their own culture.  The Chinese food in the pictures is a cultural marker that lets the reader see what culture the book is about.  The pictures illustrate the food in the story to show the difference between the American and Asian culture.

4.  Review Excerpts
PUBLISHER WEEKLY says:  "The author and artist teamed for Buzz return for this carefully honed story about a girl's experience as a first-generation Chinese-American. Readers first encounter the unnamed narrator as she looks unhappily out the glass door of her parents' market, open for business even on the Fourth of July. Hearing the "boom, boom, boom" of the approaching parade, sniffing the apple pie baking in a neighbor's..."
CHILDRENS LITERATURE remarks:  "In a lyrical look at a young Chinese-American girl's 4th of July in her family's convenience store, Wong paints a unique picture of the evolving diversity in U.S. culture. On a day that celebrates the independence of our nation, we mostly see patriotic portrayals of our Federalist period when European Americans and European culture dominated our society. This book shows that this holiday can be celebrated in a diversity of ways, including a trip through a Chinese buffet after a parade."

5.  Connections
A excellent book to read to children before the Fourth of July to show the holiday is about all cultures not just one.
More books by Janet S Wong:
Wong, Janet.  ALEX & THE WEDNESDAY CHESS CLUB.  ISBN 0689858906
Wong, Janet.  THE DUMPSTER DIVER.  ISBN 9780763623807
Wong, Janet.  HIDE AND SEEK.  ISBN 0152049347
Wong, Janet.  HOMEGROWN HOUSE.  ISBN 9780689847189