Justina Chen

Justina Chen (born 1968 in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania) is a Taiwanese-American^[1] fiction writer and executive communications consultant. She is best known for her young-adult fiction, especially North of Beautiful (2009), A Blind Spot for Boys (2014), Girl Overboard (2008), and Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) (2006).

Justina Chen
Born	1968 (age 56–57) Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, Executive Communications Strategist
Nationality	Taiwanese-American
Alma mater	Stanford University
Genre	Young Adult Fiction
Notable works	North of Beautiful, Return to Me, A Blind Spot for Boys
Website
www.justinachen.com

Background

Chen was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania in 1968 to Taiwanese-American parents. She later graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford in Economics in only three years, where she also won the Dean's Award for Service.^[2][3] After graduating from Stanford, she worked as a marketing executive at Microsoft in Seattle^[3][4] before becoming a novelist and story consultant.^[4]

Writing career

After leaving Microsoft to pursue her writing career, Chen first wrote her first book, The Patch (2006).^[3] Her first Young Adult novel, Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies), won one of the 2007 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature.^[5] From 2007 to 2008, Justina toured across the United States with Olympic Gold medalist Hannah Teter to promote her upcoming book, Girl Overboard, and the "Go Overboard" challenge grants co-sponsored by Youth Venture and Burton Snowboards.^[6] North of Beautiful, her next book, won a Kirkus Book of the Year and a Barnes & Noble Book of the Year award and is widely considered her most famous work.^[7] Return to Me is said to be based loosely on events that happened to her and her family, and has received positive responses from critics. Her latest young adult book, A Blind Spot For Boys, has received generally positive reviews from critics.^[8] Chen also founded Readergirlz, a literary project targeted at girls, which won a National Book Award for innovations in reading.^[5]

In 2008, Chen returned to Microsoft as a speechwriter and communications executive for Robert J. Bach, President of Microsoft Entertainment.^[3] Four years later, she left Microsoft and returned to novel writing, executive communications and storytelling consulting.^[9] She self-published her first business book, The Art of Inspiration: Lead Your Best Story, based on her marketing and storytelling experience.^[10] She currently tours the country on a speaking tour with Robert J. Bach, and has been invited to speak at companies including Microsoft, NASDAQ, Mayo Clinic, and Disney.^[3]

Published books

• The Patch (2006), illustrations by Mitch Vane. Charlesbridge ISBN 1-58089-170-5
• Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) (2006), Little-Brown ISBN 0-316-01131-2
• Girl Overboard (2008), Little-Brown ISBN 0-316-01129-0
• North of Beautiful (2009), Little-Brown ISBN 0-316-02506-2
• Return to Me (2013), Little-Brown ISBN 0-316-10255-5
• A Blind Spot for Boys (2014), Little-Brown ISBN 9780316102537
• The Art of Inspiration: Lead Your Best Story (2016), Sparkline Creative ISBN 0988717417
• Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2018), Arthur A. Levine Books ISBN 133813406X
• With Twice the Love, Dessie Mei (2024), HarperCollins Publishers ISBN 9780063306523