"Book Friends Forever": Alvina and Grace as kids (left) and as roommates (right). Photos courtesy of Alvina Ling. In Grace Lin’s first novel, the semiautobiographical The Year of the Dog, Pacy first meets the new girl, Melody, in the school cafeteria after the lunch lady confuses them (they’re the only...

From left: Laban Carrick Hill, Alvina Ling, and Bryan Collier at the 2010 ALA Annual conference in Washington, DC.“What color was your day?”Bryan Collier often asks this question during his talks. He asks this of children. He asks this of adults. It’s such a simple yet intriguing question, and I...