Grace Lin's Blog, page 130

book talk tuesday

THE DREAM STEALER by Sid Fleischman

IndieBound Description:
There is a bandit who comes in the night. He does not want pretty silver earrings or dangly gold necklaces, not diamonds or rubies.
What does he want?
Listen, I will tell you.
He wants dreams.
He is supposed to take only nightmares—the dreams of monsters and phantoms—but he's grown scared. He's been taking the good dreams instead.
But one night he steals from the wrong girl.
Susana is clever. She is wily. She is brave. And she wants h...

on my desk monday

This is an incredibly lovely article written by my editor, Alvina Ling for the May edition of the Horn Book. Editors were asked to write what they learned from the authors they work with, and I was really touched that Alvina chose to write about me. Some of you might know that Alvina & I have been good friends since we were ten years old and the character of Melody Ling in Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat is based on her! So, we have a long history together. My favorite part:

And I love...

did I forget anything?

All packed to go to the big Newbery Banquet(hope my dress doesn't get too wrinkled.)! This time I packed the jade bracelet, but I think it is already bringing me luck because to see me off was ANOTHER STARRED REVIEW for Ling & Ting!!!

This one is from the School Library Journal:

Lin brings her talents to these charming stories about Chinese-American twins who like to stick together but are not as alike as everyone thinks. The six short chapters are the perfect length for beginning readers. In ...

fortune cookie friday

"If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys."
-Chinese Proverb

Thank you for coming!

The Ling heads were made:

the Ting heads were made:
The boxes had their cupcakes:
And the bags were filled with their magnets and chopsticks:
And only needed decorating:
But I had a hard time getting the help to part with the paper flowers:

However, everything was finished and brought to the bookstore for the LING AND TING BOOK PARTY!!!

Where, after I spoke a little (tried to keep it short):

It was time for the cupcakes!

It was kind of a long line (thanks for your patience!):
Because I had to admire ev...

book talk tuesday

SLEEPING UGLY by Jane Yolen

IndieBound Description:
Plain Jane has a heart of gold -- but her face is as homely as her nose is long. Princess Miserella, on the other hand, is a beautiful princess with a heart of stone. In this droll twist on the classic fairytale, the kiss-bestowing prince learns that beauty is indeed only skin deep.

My Thoughts:
This is an "early reader," which from writing Ling and Ting (though this is maybe a smidge older) I learned is no easy thing to do well. So, this book i...

on my desk monday

leftovers from my Ling & Ting book launch!

fortune cookie friday

"Sheep's wool comes off the sheep's back"
-Chinese Proverb

random wonders

So...Ling and Ting has received 3 starred reviews!!! It's true--Kirkus, Booklist and the Horn Book (my first star ever from them) have given Ling & Ting the elusive star! I am (happily) amazed. Truthfully, I'm telling you this not to brag but because I want you to think that the book is SOOOOOO good that you HAVE to come to the book party on Sat. C'mon, it's 3 stars of goodness!

Speaking of goodness, you can see the "original twins," the ones who first inspired Ling and Ting at this blog post ...

and the winner is...

So I have decided my dress! Which one is it? Well, you'll just have to wait until I post about my Newbery Banquet Experience! It's happening REALLY soon, June 27th, so you really don't have to wait that long.

In the meantime, thank you all who commented on my dress choices. I chose randomly (meaning I closed my eyes and randomly scrolled down) and these are the winners of the Where the Mountain Meets the Moon audio book:

From my personal blog gracenotes- commenter #9 Kiy
From the blue rose...