Grace Lin is an American writer and children's illustrator. Her first book, "The Ugly Vegetables", was published in 1999. She has written four novels: "The Year of the Dog", "The Year of the Rat", "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon", and "Starry River of the Sky". She also writes a series for early readers with twins named Ling and Ting, as well as other books for younger readers. She brings her sketchbook everywhere, and writes down ideas for her books. She wanted to grow up to be a figure skater. She changed her mind because she enjoyed drawing pictures of herself as an ice skater.