The All-American Slurp written by Lensey Namioka, talks about a girl’s family called Lin's family. The family has the girl, her parents, and the girl’s brother. They have moved to America to live. America's tradition is different from China’s tradition. They eat vegetables raw, but people in China will boil the vegetables with hot water.When it is almost school days, the girl's mother thinks that her child should wear a skirt. But, later on the girl found out that other girls wore jeans like other boys. Later on, the girl’s dad earned more money and took his family to a French restaurant. The restaurant’s menu is in French. Which made it hard for their family. They managed it slowly and the soup in the restaurant was on a plate. They didn't know how to drink that soup, so they slurped the soup in.
Different places have different traditions that make everyone. Sometimes when a place’s person saw a different tradition in another place, they may be surprised because it is different from theirs. In the book, Lin’s family eats food on the table and they put the dish on a big plate. When they eat vegetables, they will boil it first and they will also sit on the chairs to eat. But, the neighbors are Americans that eat vegetables raw. Americans also eat will divisual plates that have what they eat on it. They also sometimes have no chairs on the table and just take some food to go to the sofa to eat the food. These two families all went to each other’s house to eat dinner. They were all shocked when the other family was eating. This happens all the time because of culture problems. When a place’s people went to see another country’s culture, the people may be surprised or shocked.
People should help the ones who have just gone to a new environment. When we help the people who have just come, let them blend in the situation better. In the story, the girl was in a new place. She immigrated from China to America. When the neighbors invited them, the girl met her first friend called Meg. Meg didn’t care about what kind of look the girl had, she just thought that the girl looked nice and their height and size are almost the same. So, they get to play together as friends. Since Lin's family was a newcomer, the neighbors tried their best to make Lin’s family feel comfortable in a new place. The neighbors didn’t force the Lin’s family to do everything in America's way. They helped Lin’s family overcome many difficulties. People should be tolerant of the ones who have just come.
Wherever a person goes, that person shouldn’t forget their own tradition. We should never forget the tradition in our own place all the time. In the story, Lin’s family always remembered the Chinese tradition. When they invited the neighbors to come for dinner, they used the traditional way of eating in China. Mrs. Lin made her best dishes with traditional big plates in the middle. Although they already came to America for a long time, they still used their traditional things that they have used back in China. They liked to eat the raw celery, but still they liked their sour and sweet fish much more because the dish has the memory of them back in China. They moved to America which made them change to a different kind of life, it was hard for them. Moving can be hard to a person, but keeping a tradition that a person has done for years is easy.
In The All-American Slurp, Lin’s family overcomes many challenges. They tried their best and they were very different from their friends and neighbors. But, their friends and neighbors don’t mind it because they believe that they are the same. They even invited Lin’s family to their house. They also begin to understand and try to eat and dress like Americans. They even spreads their tradition to others to let others see the tradition of China. They became Chinese Americans, but they are still keeping the Chinese tradition. This book teaches us a lesson to let us follow in the rest of our life.
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