Headley, Justina Chen. North of Beautiful. Little, Brown and Company. Feb. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-316-02505-8. Gr 7-12.
-- School Library Journal, 2/18/2009
North of Beautiful is lovely. It’s the story of someone's life; their hopes and doubts and their journey of self-discovery. The complexity of the characters and sincerity of their emotions seems to pour through the sentences and is very effortless to relate to. You should read this book!At first this books seems as if it has a predictable plot, and it would be taxing to read. But the metaphors and the discovery of beauty in unexpected places ties this book down solidly and gives it hope. It's very touching and interesting and explores the choices, lessons and levels of self-acceptance that come with growing up, learning about the world and finding your true place in it. It becomes more and more interesting throughout the plot, such as life does.
The cover seemed very generic and plain at first. But as the plot thickens and the characters are unfurled and revealed, you see hidden and subtle symbolism in the cover. The author uses the image of the compass throughout the book and it gives a clever hint to the title, about pointing north. Thisbook is filled with clever metaphors, many relating back to the compass and finding the direction of your moral compass; finding it points True North.This book may be geared more towards girls, but it also has inspirational and strong male characters that could also encourage boys to read it as well. I loved North of Beautiful because of its strong and realistic characters, both male and female.- Kiara C., age 15
This review is from a member of the Teens Know "Best" YA Galley Group of the St. Paul Public Library and the Metropolitan State University Library and Learning Center (MN), a part of YALSA's Young Adult Galley/Teen Top Ten Project which uses 15 public libraries and school library media centers from across the country to provide feedback to publishers of young adult books.
