The Editors Panel: Alvina Ling & Melissa Manlove's Books They Loved Publishing

A dive into what the editors really love (and acquired!)

Alvina Ling is VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she’s worked since 1999. She oversees Little, Brown’s core publishing program (including picture book, middle grade, and young adult), and edits children's books for all ages. She has worked with such authors and illustrators as Peter Brown, Bryan Collier, Ed Young, Grace Lin, Wendy Mass, Justina Chen, Chris Colfer, Laini Taylor, Libba Bray, Barry Lyga, Holly Black, and Matthew Quick. She is the co-founder and former chair of the CBC Diversity Committee. She is on Twitter as @planetalvina.

The books Alvina shares about are:

For Picture Books, "Thunder Boy, Jr." by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Yuyi Morales



for middle grade, "The Year of the Dog" by Grace Lin



And for YA, "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor





Melissa Manlove is an Editor at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. She has been with Chronicle for 12 years. Her acquisitions tend to be all ages in nonfiction; ages 0-8 for fiction. When acquiring, she looks for fresh takes on familiar topics as well as the new and unusual. An effective approach and strong, graceful writing are important to her. She has 17 years of children’s bookselling experience.

Melissa's books she shares with us - and the stories behind them - are:

"Picture This" by Molly Bang



"President Squid" by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Sara Varon