Episode #92: Do you have an interesting story about ‘Where The Mountain Meets the Moon?’ Short Q&A with Grace Lin

Grace Lin: Hello! It’s Grace Lin! Today’s show is a little different because I have a couple of announcements—

First, thank you so much for being a listener of this podcast. We launched this KAA at the start of the pandemic and it’s been so fun seeing the listenership grow even as the world opens up! However, now with most schools officially closed for the school year, we’ve decided to have a summer break as well! Yes, we are taking a little time off! But don’t worry, we will definitely be back in August right in time to start the new school year. 

If you would like to be notified when the new season of Kids Ask Authors starts, I encourage you to sign up for my author newsletter.  My newsletter will also alert you to when we start applications for the new Kids Book Reviewer Club, so you won’t want to miss it! Sign up here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/kEmJMT3/newsletter 

However, just to let you know, it is my author newsletter, so it is mostly filled with activities and news about my books and life as an author. Which actually brings us to today’s episode!

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 free webinars during the fall and spring. If you would like to be alerted for the dates of these webinars as well as application directions, please sign up for my author newsletter (obviously, I really want you to sign up for my newsletter, right?)

 Anyway, for today’s episode, I thought I would answer two questions from my last free webinar.  This first question is from the Browning School in Manhattan:

Question #1: “We hear there are lots of stories and challenges about writers getting their books published. Do you have a funny or interesting story about “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon?”

Grace: What a fun question! “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” was actually a 2nd book in a 2-book contract—sometimes when publishers agree to publish your book, they’ll make an agreement that they will also publish your next book without you having to write the whole thing ahead of time. So, I was really lucky that did not have to submit “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” to publishers and go through the rejection process.  

So I don’t have any funny stories about getting that book published. But I do have an interesting story about writing the book—specifically the title! I had a really hard time coming up with the title!  When I first wrote it, the title was “The God of the West” but then I changed that character to The Old Man of the Moon, so that title made no sense. So then I called it “Never-ending Mountain” which my editor thought sounded really depressing.  So then I tried titles like "Old Man of the Moon" (which we though sounded boring).

Then, "Minli and the Dragon" (which was a little better but didn’t really capture the feeling of the book), then "The Story of Minli" (which also didn’t give a good idea about the book, then "The Moon and the Dragon" or "The Dragon’s Moon" (which wasn’t really what the book was about, so that didn’t work). Then we tried, "The City of Bright Moonlight"

This title was closer to what we wanted because it had more of the feeling of the book, but still did not really capture the story.  I was very frustrated and finally my editor said, “We need something kind of poetic and full of imagery—you know, like the last line of the book when you say, “where the mountain meets the moon.” We need something like that.”

And then I said, “Oh, alright. Why don’t we just use that then?” So we did and that’s why the book is called “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.” And that is also why the two companion books, “Starry River of the Sky” and “When the Sea Turned to Silver” are named that as well! To save myself the frustration, I just decided to use the last line of the books as the title!

Okay, so here is the second question! It is from a Sunnyside Elementary in New Brighton, Minnesota:

Question #2: Are you still in touch with Melody?

Grace Lin: Another great question! This class is obviously asking about Melody, a character from my book “The Year of the Dog.” I’ve actually answered this one before on the podcast but I get asked it quite a bit so I will answer it again!

So, in the Year of the Dog, the main character Pacy is the only Asian girl in her school except for her sisters. So year after year, she never has a friend that looks like her--until the Year of the Dog. Because that year, a new girl moves to town—and she’s Asian just like Pacy! The new girl’s name is Melody and they become best friends.

Well, I’m happy to tell you that Pacy and Melody’s friendship is pretty much a true story! The character of Pacy is based on myself (my Chinese or middle name is actually Pacy!) and I was the only Asian girl in my elementary school –except for my sisters, too. That is until, one day out of the blue, another Asian girl moved into town and we became best friends. However, in real life her name was not Melody. In real life her name was Alvina.  And you know what happened to her? She grew up and became a children’s book editor. She’s actually the editor of my books, including “The Year of the Dog” and we are still best friends. So yes, we are still very much in touch today!  Not only do we work together, we even have a podcast together called Book Friends Forever! However, that podcast is really more for grown ups. I’m pretty sure most kids will be kind of bored listening to it, but if your teachers or guardians are interested in children’s book industry,  they might be interested!

So that’s it! That is today’s episode and our last one until August!

But, grown-ups, remember, if you know a kid that has a question, a book review, very short story, a poem or even a joke they would like to share on this podcast, you can still submit it to kidsaskauthors.com. And if you’d like to reach me, follow me on twitter and Instagram where I use the handle @pacylin and, of course, you can sign up for my author newsletter—the link is in the shownotes!

Also, if you enjoy this podcast, please spread the word! Tell your friends and colleagues to listen and of course please rate and review on Apple podcasts.  And lastly, you can also become a patron! Doing any of those things helps pay for transcripts, continue the Kids Book Review Club and most of all continue this podcast! The link to the patreon is here! So, thanks so much and see you in August!

Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from  Zeeva! Zeeva reviewing Can you see me?  Written by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott.

Hi, I’m Zeeva, and I would like to talk about the book Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. It’s about an autistic girl named Tally who is going into middle school. She faces difficulties trying to fit in with her friends, and isn’t always able to express how she feels about it. I liked this book because one of the themes is that you should never judge someone before getting to know them. I also liked it because I was able to relate to Tally in that she loves animals and is very caring towards them. I was very excited to learn that one of the authors, Libby Scott, was around my age when she wrote the book. I definitely recommend that you read Can You See me?

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.

Special thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore, Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.