Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2009
384 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Born with a port-wine stain birthmark covering her entire right cheek, Terra Rose Cooper is ready to leave her stifling, small Washington town where everyone knows her for her face. With her critical, reproachful father and an obese mother who turns to food to deflect her father's verbal attacks, home life for Terra isn't so great either.
Fueled by her artistic desires, she plans to escape to an East Coast college, thinking this is her true path. When her father intercepts her acceptance letter, Terra is pushed off-course, and she is forced to confront her deepest insecurities. After an ironically fortuitous car accident, Terra meets Jacob, a handsome but odd goth Chinese boy who was adopted from China as a toddler. Jacob immediately understands Terra's battle with feeling different. When Terra's older brother invites her and her mother to visit him in Shanghai, Jacob and his mother also join them on their journey, where they all not only confront the truth about themselves, but also realize their own true beauty.
"Starred Review. Laced with metaphors about maps and treasure, Headley's finely crafted novel traces a teen's uncharted quest to find beauty." - Publishers Weekly.
"An intelligent and multi-layered book, teens will find this a very satisfying read." - Children's Literature.
"Starred Review. Look out, Sarah Dessen. You may have met your match in Headley." - Kirkus Reviews.
This information about North of Beautiful was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Justina Chen Headley grew up near Buffalo, NY and San Francisco. After attending Stanford University she spent time in New York and Sydney, Australia before settling near Seattle, Washington with her husband and two children. Her first book, Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies), was a Book Sense pick; this was followed by Girl Overboard.
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