Grace Lin, acclaimed Taiwanese American author and illustrator, is a name you might recognize from the spines of many children’s books nestled on the shelf. From her prominent middle grade novels, “Where The Mountain Meets The Moon,” “When The Sea Turned to Silver,” and “Year of the Dog,” to her applauded picture books “Ling & Ting” and “Ugly Vegetables,” Lin notably advances Asian American representation and uses her writing to artistically share Asian culture with the world.
Lin’s fiction imagines magical worlds where Asian protagonists voyage with sassy dragons and mysterious companions, traverse through serene lakeside villages or soar across the starry skies, encounter bridges woven from kite lines, and use clear wits to save loved ones from difficult foes all in a race against time.
In her fantasy novels, Lin incorporates elements of Chinese folklore as well as her own retellings of these ancient tales passed down from her family and found on her own childhood bookshelf. Such is the case with “Where The Mountain Meets the Moon” (2009), a Newbery Honor award-winning novel about the spectacular adventures of Minli, a young girl from a poor village in an alternative ancient China, who seeks the Old Man of the Moon at the Never-Ending Mountain to bring fortune to her family. Here, Lin references ancient Chinese mythical figures like the Old Man of the Moon, sacred tigers, talking good-luck goldfish, and the red thread.
Yet, while Lin sets her novels in ancient China and draws from traditional folklore, she isn’t just retelling them. She adapts the tales, constructing her own whimsical, adventurous stories from Chinese culture, legend, and characters. After hearing Lin talk at Smith College about the importance of diverse books and bringing Asian cultural awareness, I had the pleasure of talking to her further about the Chinese fairy tales behind her fantasy works and her adaptations of such folktales for a young Asian American…
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