Mother-Daugther Book Review: "North of Beautiful" by Justina Chen Headley

Cindy Hudson is the author of “Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs” (Seal Press, October 2009). She is the founder of two long-running mother-daughter book clubs, and she lives in Portland with her husband and two daughters. Visit her online at Mother Daughter Book Club website and blog.  This review is one in a twice-monthly series of “Mother-Daughter Book Review” posts contributed by Ms. Hudson.

North of Beautiful (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

by Justina Chen Headley

Terra Cooper can’t wait to escape her small-town life in Washington state’s Methow Valley. She feels her true self is carefully concealed there, just as the port-wine stain birthmark on her face is concealed under heavy make-up. Terra dreams of being an artist, although she’s not confident in her own ability to let go and create meaningful works. She pushes herself to excel at school, so she can graduate early and escape to college and a life away from her verbally abusive father, just like her brothers before her.

When she wrecks her car while driving home from yet another surgery on her birthmark, she has to spend her carefully hoarded college funds on repairs. Just when she resigns herself to limiting her future, she meets a Chinese-American goth boy named Jacob, who challenges her to see herself, her family and her art in a new way.

A powerful book for mothers and daughters to read together, North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley is about self-discovery, finding the true meaning of beauty, and learning to trust in yourself. Maps play an important role in the story—literally as they affect Terra’s dad, who is a cartographer, and metaphorically, as a symbol for helping us find our way. This is Terra’s story, but it’s also about Jacob and both teens’ moms and finding the strength to overcome obstacles that arise in life.

I found myself savoring North of Beautiful, lingering over the beautifully written prose that asks a lot of questions and gives no easy answers. I highly recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls in high school.

See what author Justina Chen Headley had to say about her book and her writing life in this interview on Mother Daughter Book Club.

Image credit IndieBound.