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Grace Lin grew up in Upstate New York with her parents and two sisters. Surprisingly enough, being an artist was not Grace's first choice. She first dreamed of being a champion ice skater, and drew many pictures of herself twirling and dancing on the ice. Unfortunately, Grace had neither the talent nor coordination to make it to skating stardom. However, the pictures she drew of herself held much promise and quickly became her career focus.

After attending the Rhode Island School of Design, Grace quickly set out to achieve her dream of creating children's books. Her first book, The Ugly Vegetables, was published in 1999. Since then she has written and illustrated over a dozen picture books as well as three middle-grade novels.

Grace's most recent book, the award-winning Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, was selected for inclusion in the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Project.

She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.
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Quotations taken from our interview with
Grace Lin:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, a mixture of Asian fairy tales and North American classics, came into existence as an homage to the folk tales and fairy tales I read in my youth. Not a traditional retelling of stories from either culture, but a mix––like me, Asian-American.

...

To me, [illustrated middle-grade books] are perfect—they give a glimpse of visualization into the world you are reading about, but not so much that you aren’t left with anything to imagine. Also, they make the experience of owning and holding a book feel that much more special."

...

I like to think that my art and writing have become more refined over the years. I definitely create with more confidence now, which means I allow myself to take more risks. However, I think  the core of my work, my general vision, has remained the same.

...

I'd like to send Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to myself when I was 10 years old. Partly because it is the kind of book that I wanted and needed and didn't have when I was a child, and partly to tell my younger self, “Have faith, you will someday accomplish your dream.

Posted February 2010

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