Episode #105: Q&A with author Grace Lin!
Hi Everyone! Today’s episode is a solo show! As you know I am Grace Lin the host of this podcast but I am also Grace Lin, the author and illustrator of many books!
One of the new things I have begun to offer to schools and book groups is to participate in a free Q&A webinar session. I used to do a free zoom visit lottery but that became much too complicated, so now I just offer 2-4 free Q&A webinars throughout the year. If you would like to be alerted for the dates of these webinars as well as how to register for one, please sign up for my author newsletter !
Anyway, for today’s episode, I thought I would give you a taste of one of my Q& A webinars and answer two of the questions I received.
My first question is from a student named Sophia who asks “How did you come up with the character of Minli?”
So Sophia is asking about the main character in my book “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.” For those of you who do not know the book, “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” is the story of a young girl named Minli who goes on journey to try to find the Old Man of the Moon, because she thinks the Old Man of the Moon will know how she can change her family’s fortune. As Minli travels across the land she meets all these different people and creatures—including a dragon—and everyone she meets tells her a story. These stories affect her journey but she doesn’t realize it until the very end.
So, how did I come up with the character of Minli? Well, Minli is brave, adventurous, smart and quick. She is not me, but she is a lot like how I wish I was! When I was thinking about her as character, I started researching Chinese names. Now Chinese names always have a meaning behind them and when I was looking at girl names, most of them referenced a girl’s appearance and I didn’t want that. I wanted a name that was about her personality. Finally, I found the name Minli and I saw that it meant “quick and clever” and I thought—yes! That is the kind of girl I want my character to be. And so that is how the character of Minli was created.
My second question is from Trina, who asks, “Why do you have so many books about the moon?”
That is a good question! I do have many books about the moon, don’t I? I have two picture books—“Thanking the Moon” which is about the customs the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival and I have “A Big Mooncake for Little Star” which is about a girl name Little Star who eats a mooncake that looks an awful like the real moon! I also have the novel “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon,” the novel I talked about earlier and the companion novels to that book,“Starry River of the Sky” and “When the Sea Turned to Silver” also feature the moon! There might be even more. But the truth is, I love the moon and all it symbolizes, especially in Asian culture. The Moon Festival is my favorite Asian holiday because it is all about admiring the moon, the togetherness of family, being grateful and hoping for the future. To me, the Moon Festival and the moon is all about quiet joy, love and beauty which are all things that I want my books to have! So that is why I write about the moon so much. I hope you like the moon as much as I do, or at least you like the books I write about the moon!
Okay so those were answers for today’s 2 questions. I hoped you like them! I’ll answer more questions about my books in the future and remember you can sign up for my newsletter to be updated for future free webinars! In the mean time keep coming back to here to listen to more answers about writing and books from me and my author friends!
Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from Milo! Milo is reviewing Year of the Dog by Grace Lin.
My name is Milo and the book I would like to talk about is The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin. It’s based on Grace Lin’s life as a kid. Grace Lin, known as Pacy, is the main character, and every chapter is a story of her childhood. In the book they celebrate the Year of the Dog and Pacy wants to meet a new best friend. The next school year when Pacy is picking up her lunch and the lunch lady says you already got food, but Pacy says no. She gets out of line and her friend Becky sees a new Asian girl like Pacy. Read this book to find out if they become best friends. I like how Pacy teaches her parents about Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. It was cool to read a book about a Chinese character. I’m Chinese and American, and I celebrate Chinese New Year. I also have friends of different races. I would recommend this book because it’s about Grace Lin’s childhood. I kept wanting to read this book because after every chapter I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next.
Thank you Milo!
More about today’s author:
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
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