Melinda Ng (CEE ‘96) just had her debut novel Mattie and the Machine released by Santa Monica Press (under the pen name Lynn Ng Quezon). The YA historical is a fictionalized account of 19th-century inventor Margaret Knight’s journey to obtaining her first patent.
She has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the Grateful American Book Prize. This prize is awarded each year to high-quality, 7th to 9th-grade-level historical fiction and non-fiction, about the events and personalities that have shaped the United States since its founding. It comes with $13,000 in commemoration of the 13 Colonies, a lifetime membership at the New York Historical Society, and a medallion created by Smith’s mother, the renowned artist, Clarice Smith.