Episode 3: Kindling Words, and controversial photos in Grace’s high school yearbook
Grace Lin and Alvina Ling talk about their weeks: Grace talks about the Mouse Scout Book Club that she hosts for her daughter and her friends, and Alvina talks about performance review time at her work.
Snacks for Grace’s first Mouse Scout meeting!
They take a trip down memory lane and talk about attending the children’s book retreat Kindling Words for the first time. That’s where Grace showed Alvina a very early draft of what would become THE YEAR OF THE DOG, including the excellent feedback that author Mitali Perkins gave her on her book.
They also talk about the Kindling Words bonfire—tradition says to write a dream down and burn in it the fire so it will come true. Grace recalls that Alvina wrote down that she wanted to edit books that won the Newbery and Caldecott, and Grace remembers writing that she wanted to write those books!
https://kindlingwords.org
Grace at Kindling Words with Tanya Lee Stone and Mitali Perkins
The KW bonfire
And then Grace talks about what’s on her mind, which was the fact that two photos of students in blackface that were found in her high school yearbook, of which she served as editor.
And they share what they’re grateful for this week: Alvina is grateful for her cat, Venus!
Grace is grateful for seeing a bright red cardinal while on her run and how magical it seemed. Alvina mentions the Japanese word “mono no aware,” meaning fleeting beauty.
