Children often think that they know more than their parents. Janet Wong's short story "Apple Pie 4th of July" is about a little Chinese girl who wonders out loud why her parents are working on the Fourth of July. Her parents own a family market that sells retail goods and food. Everyone else is celebrating, and they are working. In addition, her parents have prepared Chinese food to sell. She cannot understand what Chinese food has to do with the Fourth of July? She feels that her Chinese parents are completely out of touch and simply do not understand this American holiday. The entire afternoon she sulks while she watches the holiday festivities from inside the store. Meanwhile, she watches the Chinese food go to waste as customers buy ice cream, chips, and drinks, but no Chinese cuisine. She considers the entire day a waste of time, until the evening hours when hungry customers finally start to come in to buy the Chinese food. She thinks that her parents are unprepared for the dinner rush, but she is quickly surprised to find out that they are well prepared with a large assortment of fresh food. At the end of the day, after they close the store she enjoys the city's fireworks display with her parents. She then realizes that she may have underestimated her parents as they enjoy a traditional holiday treat. She happily smiles as she eats her hot apple pie and watches the fireworks!
Wong, Janet S. Apple Pie 4th of July. Illus. Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Orlando FL: Voyager Books/Harcourt, Inc., 2002.
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