Grace Lin
Award Winning Children's Book Author and Illustrator
Grace Lin is an internationally recognized author and illustrated of children’s books. Her first book, The Ugly Vegetables, was published in 1999 and was quickly heralded. Her other works have included Din Sum for Everyone! and Lissy’s Friends. Ms. Lin’s first children’s novel, The Year of the Dog was released to glowing praise in 2006 and nominated to the TX Bluebonnet list, which she followed with The Year of the Rat. Her novel Where the Mountain was awarded the 2010 Newbery Honor, chosen for Al Roker’s Today Show Kid’s Book Club, and was a NY Times Bestseller. Ms. Lin’s early reader Ling and Ting was awarded with the Theodor Geisel Honor in 2011, and her picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star was awarded the 2019 Caldecott Honor. Ms. Lin’s book, Before the Sword, was the “prequel” to the Disney movie Mulan. The Gate, the Girl and the Dragon is her most recent middle grade novel.
Ms. Lin has become an advocate for diversity. She is a commentator for New England Public Radio and created the video essay, “What to do when you realize classic books from your childhood are racist?” for the PBS Newhour. Ms. Lin also delivered the popular TEDx talk, “The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf.” She currently co-hosts the Book Friends Forever podcast with her friend and editor Alvina Ling. Grace believes, “Books erase bias, they make the uncommon every day, and the mundane exotic. A book makes all cultures universal.”
To that end, when the cover illustration for her novel When the Sear Turned to Silver (a 2016 National Book Award Finalist) was displayed at the White House, Grace was recognized as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling. In 2022, the American Library Association awarded Grace the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, the award that honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.
Her work is currently on exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum through January 2026.
This talk is part of the Thursday Evening Speaker Series which features accomplished local women speak about their journey of challenges and achievements.
Free and open to the public!
