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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

By Bette Bao Lord

Sixth Cousin is an eight-year-old girl who lives in Chungking, China with her family, the Wong clan. She has this name because she was the sixth grandchild born to the Wong clan. She also has the nickname Bandit.

Her father has been traveling in the United States on business. As the Wong family is celebrating the Chinese New Year, which is changing from the Year of the Dog to the Year of the Boar, Bandit receives news from her father that he is remaining in New York and that she and her mother should prepare to travel across the ocean to live with him in Brooklyn. The Wong family is upset by the news, but Bandit and her mother say their tearful goodbyes and leave for the United States. Bandit is excited to be reunited with her father in the United States, but worries that she will not fit in. She then changes her name to that of a famous child star, ShirleyTemple.

Shirley and her Mother travel across the Pacific Ocean by boat and dock in California. Then they take a train across the country to the east coast. Father meets them at Grand Central Station in New York City. It is the late 1940s (the year 1947, to be exact), and Shirley has a lot to learn about her new country and its culture. Shirley is amazed at the differences between Chungking and New York City.

Shirley and her family live in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge. The new American girl has some trouble adjusting to life in the U.S. She goes to school, where she is placed in the fifth grade, even though she is only eight, but doesn’t speak English. The children make fun of her until she learns to play baseball.

As Shirley learns English and makes new friends, she becomes a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and their new star player, Jackie Robinson. Shirley’s favorite pastime, besides playing baseball, is listening to the Dodgers games on the radio.