Author's Chinese heritage comes to life in her children's book

Children's author Grace Lin freely admits that she grew up trying to escape from her Chinese culture. As the only Asian student in her school in upstate New York, she desperately tried to assimilate with her classmates.

Even the books she read reinforced it. Very few, if any, children's books featured Asian characters.

Yet, while pursuing a degree in illustration at the Rhode Island of School of Design, she began to explore the imagery in her Chinese culture. A trip to China shortly after college opened her eyes even more, she says.

“All the fairy tales I had heard growing up came to life,” says Lin, who lives in a suburb of Boston.

Lin visited with local readers during a weeklong tour last month, when she spoke at libraries in Arlington Heights, Schaumburg and Skokie, as well as visited with students in Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village and Hoffman Estates.

Her tour was timed with the start of the Chinese New Year, but everywhere she went, readers wanted to know more about her most successful book to date, “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.”

The 288-page novel is geared for third- through sixth-graders and it features Lin's original illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, as well as the colorful art on the cover. That's the book's main character, Minli, riding a dragon in search of the Old Man of the Moon.

Since it was released in 2009, it has won a host of awards, including a 2010 Newbery Honor, The New York Times best-seller's list of children's books, and even Al Roker's Today Show Kids' Book Club selection.

It was while taping the Today Show segment, with members of the book club that Lin says she had a revelation: the book had crossed ethnic boundaries and reached beyond the multicultural label she had been given when she first started writing books.

“When I looked out over the group, there were no Asian children,” Lin says, “and there were boys and girls. In fact, the boys were even more enthusiastic than the girls.”

Her realization confirmed what she secretly believed, before being described as a multicultural author by publishers. She had set out to write her books for herself, as she rediscovers her heritage she sought to hide while growing up, as well as for others, including Asian children like herself, who had no literary role models, and mainstream readers with whom she wanted to share her Chinese culture.

“Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” satisfies both goals, as the whimsical fantasy story incorporates many Chinese folk stories and characters, as well as gives readers an interesting read with many twists and turns, that is anything but predictable.

It's been called the “Chinese Wizard of Oz,” as Minli searches for the Old Man of the Moon who will change her family's fortunes. Fortunately, that's a label that Lin likes.

“I love the ‘Wizard of Oz,' so I don't mind it,” Lin says. “But it's actually based on a very old Chinese fairy tale, called ‘Olive Lake.'

“Olive Lake was written way before the Wizard of Oz,” she adds, “so maybe the Wizard of Oz is based on Olive Lake. Who knows?”

Like in the Wizard of Oz, Minli meets some unusual characters who accompany her on her journey, from the dragon to a talking goldfish, boy with a buffalo, a king, a fierce green tiger and laughing twins, all before scaling Never-Ending Mountain.

Chinese folk tales are woven throughout the story, as well as some of their rich imagery, including the red thread that connects all people who know each other, and the paper of happiness, which is revealed at the end.

“That's one of the themes of the story,” Lin says, “that everything is interconnected.

“That works with all the little stories that I place in there,” she adds. “Even though in the book you might know how they are connected, when you come to the end, you see how they all fit together.”

What: “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon,” a 288-page fantasy novel by Grace Lin geared for third- through sixth-graders.

Cost: $16.99 for hardcover, $9.99 for paperback at Amazon.com and all major booksellers.

More information: gracelin.com