a real life Ling and Ting

Shortly, after posting about my new project, I received this wonderful e-mail. It reminded me why creating children's books is the best job ever. And it makes me want to paint Ling and Ting in striped sailor dresses.

Dear Ms. Grace Lin,

Our names are Jennifer MeiDe and Rebekah MeiRui. We are ten years old and we are home schooled. We were born in Hefei China, but now we live in the United States. We are identical twins.

We have several books by you. The first book our Mom and Dad bought was Dim Sum For Everyone! The book we liked the most is The Year Of The Dog. Both of us can't wait to get The Year Of The Rat because our Dad and we were all born in that year.

We like your books and know that your new book will be Ling and Ting. This new book is about Chinese American twins, just like us. We look the same, but we have many differences. Jennifer loves to draw paper dolls of people. Rebekah loves to draw animals and draw background scenes.

We each write stories, but we write different kinds of stories. We are taking an online writing course at Northwestern University. Both of us like origami, just like in your other book, Lissy’s Friends , but we each make different kinds of origami figures. When we were babies, Rebekah wore a red ribbon and Jennifer wore a yellow ribbon so that they could tell us apart. Both of us still like those different colors as our favorites today.

We do the same things, but we do them in different ways. If you have any questions about Chinese American twins, please e-mail us.

Becky
and
Jenny

Rebekah(on right) and Jenny (on left)

unexpected

Great Googlie-Mooglie! One Year in Beijing won the Chinese American Librarians Association Honorary Mention Best Book Award. I'm pleasantly surprised, especially as this book had fallen off my personal radar.

listen to my book!

I just discovered you can download an audio version of The Year of the Dog! You can even listen to a sample of it for free. It's so strange to hear someone else reading the book, I'm so used to my own voice reading it. Ki-Ki and Lissy are going to be upset that their names are pronounced wrong (Ki-Ki should be kie-kie--rhyming with pie, and Lissy should be lee-she)but it's not the reader's fault. My parents should have spelled their names more phonetically correct...or I guess I could've, now that I think of it. Oops.

this just in...

Merrymakers, the manufacturers of the Lissy Doll, has just told me that they plan to add an origami kit with the the doll when it goes on to the market. How neat is that? Gee, I think this is getting way to cool for l'il mushroom me.

the agony and the ecstasy

Between my store, my work (2 books at once!) and my life, I've been pretty overwhelmed. In an attempt to try to get a handle on things, I've been pulling all-nighters, or 5 AM-er's. While this has helped to some extent, last night I paid the price. In my half-awake stupor, I walked into a chair and...broke my little toe. It REALLY HURTS. And it is a disturbing shade of purple, too.

As I nursed my toe, my inner whining chorus of "Is this even worth it?" began. But just as it the song reached its crescendo, I received this lovely e-mail. Suddenly all the juggling, stress and fatigue doesn't seem so bad. Maybe even worth it... though perhaps not to my toe.

Dear Grace,
I recommended your book to some teachers in a book discussion group I lead, and sent Booklist's review of The Year of the Dog along with it. Here is a response I got from one of the members:

".....when I read Mary's note about the new book by Grace Lin, Year of the Dog, I was thrilled. What I have tried to do through LATTICE, Grace Lin has done with her book. But more than that, she loved the Carolyn Haywood books, "a series about a quintessentially American girl whose days centered around friends and school." Well, Carolyn Haywood was a close family friend of my family when I was growing up. For a number of years, I was the model for this quintessential American girl, Betsy.


When I read the books to my own kids in the 70's, I always asked them who was missing in these stories. Their African American and Chinese American friends were definitely missing! Interestingly, by the 1960's Carolyn even realized the problem and wrote some stories about African American children. Since she was always visiting and observing children in schools in order to make her books authentic, she visited some schools in Philadelphia with African American populations. At that time the schools were definitely segregated! I don't think that she portrayed the children accurately. They looked like white children with black skin but anyway, she tried!


I like to think that she'd be very, very pleased and honored to know that Grace Lin has taken on this important challenge of providing diversity of perspective and experience in children's literature. "

The woman who wrote the above, Sally M, is the founder of LATTICE (Linking All Types of Teachers to International Cross-Cultural Education). This is an organization in mid-Michigan that works to help teachers put a global perspective in their classrooms. (www.latticeworld.org ) We meet once a month to discuss issues pertaining to education and world events. I am the co-leader of a book discussion group that reads multicultural books and then invites in a person from that country to discuss it, and the accuracy of the book. Usually these are international students at Michigan State University, in our town. We have some great discussions!

I am a librarian, too, and love all your books. Thanks for all you do for children, and for us adults, too, with your beautiful books.

Sincerely,
Mary
East Lansing Public Library

fan mail

My agent just forwarded this to me. So cute! I wish I could write her back.

ego boost

I admit I'm easily influenced by other's opinions. My friend Jarrett once gave me the wise advice to never read reviews. "Good reviews just stroke your ego," he told me, "and bad reviews just make you feel bad. Neither makes the book better." Good point, and advice that I try to take to heart. However, I admit feeling a bit low when glancing through Kirkus' Best Books of 2006. Lots of great books, I thought, Aliens are Coming, Butterfly Eyes...but nothing by poor l'il old me.

Humbled, I settle down to read the MT Anderson interview, when lo and behold on the last page is a notice of MY book. Year of the Dog is listed as one of the best early chapter books of 2006!

I know it doesn't make the book better, but my ego sure likes it.

truly great review

My sister just sent me this link to a truly great review of The Year of the Dog. It completely made my day!

It's such a great review (almost nothing makes an author happier when they read someone who really "gets" their book) I'm considering sending it to the Cybils to use as a review of the day, but maybe that is too self-serving. I cringe at the possible tackiness of doing that, but my upcoming credit card bill is starting to make me shameless.

on the bluebonnet masterlist

Hey, The Year of the Dog is on the Texas Bluebonnet Award 2007-2008 Master List. cool beans!

fun things in my inbox

Nothing helps me procrastinate more than e-mailing and blogging. So you know when I blog about e-mails it is procrastination at its paramount.

First I received, this is a photo from a mother whose daughter used Year of the Dog as her school project. For those who know the book, this is the scene where my mother falls asleep standing up during a school assembly and wakes up to a glaring teacher. You can't tell from the photo, but the teacher is holding a sign that says "disobedient children" with my mother's name right underneath. Too cute! It's kind of a thrill to think that students are making dioramas of my book, just like the way I used to from books by the likes of Beverly Cleary.


I also received this from the publisher of the Seven Chinese Sisters. The Worldwide Adoption Services has asked if I would grant permission to create these wooden nesting dolls for their charity. I said yes and hope they are quite successful, though I do find it curious that my work seems to make a lot more money for charity then it does for me. But who am I to complain? And these dolls are really sweet.

patience

Ah, I was so excited in my last post because I thought I had finished "Year of the Rat." But nothing like a good night's sleep and a day to ponder to realize my overstatement. Because upon rereading, I realized a major flaw and started gutting the poor thing. It'll be worth it, I know, but sometimes the "writer's journey" is frustrating; and--I don't care what other people say--quite unsatisfactory when you're on it.

But as I was grouching about revisions, in my inbox came this really sweet and strangely apropos e-mail (name withheld but exact typos & spelling included):

I love the novel "year of the dog"! I think it might have been one of the best books i have ever read this year! I am only 11 years old. I am chinese and part american(kind of like what's in your book). I was born in 1994 which is the year of the dog. I was wondering... If you can ever just ever maybe write back. Cause I love your books so much!!! Year of the dog is a story kind of like my life. I have not yet found some one just like me untill i read your book. I relized that sometimes when you want something you will just have to be patient no matter how bad you want it.

Thank you for your time
-----------
(as know'n as your #1 fan)

If she can be patient, I suppose I can too.

ugly vegetable

Today was Artbeat, an arts festival right around the corner from my home. Always a great time,I love walking the streets full of musical acts, art sculptures and vendors. So, while I was perusing the bright glass jewelry, a large green object caught the corner of my eye. What was that? Someone was dressed as a large vegetable. Was it a zucchini? Was it a squash? No! It was a bitter melon!

This vegetable is also known affectionately in my book The Ugly Vegetables as a ku gua. In the book, a mother, to the chagrin of her young daughter, insists on growing Chinese vegetables in her garden instead of flowers like the neighbors. The daughter, unenthused by the bumpy bitter melons growing in their garden labels them "ugly vegetables," only to appreciate them at the end when the mother makes a soup so enticing that the neighbors invite themselves over for dinner.

The Ugly Vegetables was my first published book and has been well loved and received since its release. When it first came out, I had grandiose ideas of trying to promote it--including having Ki-Ki dress up as a bitter melon. But, I was unsure of the appeal...I can honestly say there are not many picturebooks made about bitter melon, so its popularity as a character costume did not seem promising. However, here it was--a giant bitter melon parading around.

Considering the odds of this happening, I decided it was fate and ran back to my house and got my camera and my book. Not only did I need to document this, anyone who dressed up as a bitter melon needed to have a copy of The Ugly Vegetables. It just seemed mandatory.

i'm blushing

Alvina just sent me this link to perhaps the nicest review of Year of the Dog. I feel like I should send the author some flowers.

my bad

One of the unforeseen joys of writing novels is the fan mail. During my career as a picturebook author/illustrator, I have gotten an occasional flattering e-mail or letter, usually from parents. But, with Year of the Dog I've been hearing directly from the reader.

But I'm a horrible author! I have yet to respond to any of them. I keep meaning to, but somehow the pile remains on the desk. It was only when my editor asked me if I had any fan mail that she could use to pitch Year of the Rat (cross your fingers!) to pub committee, that I rifled though them. Oh the guilt! I'm sorry! I will reply, I will!

In the meantime here are some priceless excerpts (these are probably funnier if you've read the book):

"We really liked your book. There were so many magical moments. We like how you and Melody were best friends. You were always working together and were BFFs(Best Friends Forever)."

"...It was exciting to hear about Albert's red egg party. I bet Albert was very wealthy. I can't believe Albert got so many red eggs. Dinner sounded delicious. How much money was in the envelopes?"

"We really loved your book, The Year of the Dog. Please read our letter to find out why....Next, we liked the way you described the food. We don't usually like the food you talked about, but the flavors sounded so interesting. We could almost taste the details. Ha, ha, ha! Are you every going to write a book called The Year of the Pig?"

"...Pacy and I are the same and different. We were both born in America and our parent are from China. We each have smaller sibling. We both do not have many close friends. We are different because Pacy speaks English at home and I speak Chinese at home. I have a smaller brother and Pacy has a smaller sister. Albert was named after food. Are Ki-Ki, Pacy and Beatrice named after food? I am not named after food."

afloat

I have to admit it's been rough waters these last couple of weeks in mia casa. But little things have kept me afloat, like air bubbles in a life preserver. One of these things is this review of "The Year of the Dog". Even though I received it a while ago, I reread it as if it is a long-lost love letter; which is perhaps what good reviews are like to an author. A review which truly understands your work is rare and extraordinary, like the discovery of a new friend. And that is something to hold onto.

unusual occurence

As I have mentioned in my "other blog", I loathe bookstore signings as a rule. The worst is the unannounced bookstore signing, when I wander into a chain bookstore to see if they have my books and offer to sign the stock. This is quite demoralizing as usually they either don't have my books or the bookseller asks me not to sign them as that makes it harder for them to return (!).

However, during the recent NYC Hi-YAH! tour with my friend Justina Chen Headley I broke my rule. Justina, whose debut novel "Nothing But the Truth and a Few White Lies" was just published, has not yet been jaded by the depressing nature of bookstore signings. Her sheer optimism and energy convinced me to give the local Borders a chance.

So, I timidly treaded into the children's section as Justina disapeared into the YA section. My look of loss and confusion caught the eye of the bookseller.

"Can I help you?" she asks me.
"Uh no, uh maybe, uh well," I stammer, "I'm an author and I was just checking to see if you had any of my books."
"Who are you?" she asks me.
"Um, well," I say, preparing myself for the usual look of nonrecognition, "I'm Grace Lin."
"Grace Lin!" she said, "The Year of the Dog"

Well, I don't know who was more suprised. Her, because I was in the store, or me, because she actually knew who I was. Apparently, during Chinese New Year they had made a huge display of "The Year of the Dog" and she had loved the book. So much that she remembered my name. Wonders never cease.