Jacob is a Chinese boy adopted into a (fractured) American family. He goes for a Goth style because (he tells Terra) people are always going to stare at him. They stare because he doesn’t necessarily fit in with the rest of his white, blonde, all American family. He’d rather wear black clothes and eye-liner, so that they’d be staring at him on his terms, not theirs.
Norah helps Lois expand her horizons and live up to her best potential. Norah recognizes Lois’s many talents and encourages her to monetize them. The four of them travel to China together.
NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL is an astonishingly deep and powerful novel that leaves a reader thinking about life and the real meaning of beauty. Justina Chen Headley is uniquely gifted at writing prose that is both light and witty, and remarkably serious and moving. As always Ms. Chen Headley writes with an empowering feminist slant. NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL is highly educational and carefully researched. This book is a true gem. I would highly recommend it to women and girls of all ages.
An exciting benefit of Terra’s relationship with Jacob is that Jacob’s worldly confident mother forms a deep bond with Terra’s mother Lois
I first got the idea while I was walking my dogs along a centuries-old road. I’d be lying if I said I aimed to be complex or original. I don’t really plan my books, and so, I work for a few months or years, and they come out looking like this. J But to answer your deeper question, these things LoveVoodoo inspired me: history, women in history, and dogs.
Let’s just say that of all my books, North of Beautiful is probably the most autobiographical. But I also want to get it out there: people can change for the better. And people do change to be their personal best. Take heart because it does happen. I’ve seen it.
Right after she meets her true love her uncle sells her to wealthy old man in Paris
FADE is the sequel to WAKE, the story that introduces us to Janie, her abilities, and her circumstances. We see Janie living with a thoroughly irresponsible, chronically alcoholic mother. Janie is forced to work just to keep food on the table and clothes on her back. She also has little or no basic supervision. What she really wants to do is go to college, but that seems like an almost impossible dream.
Emer, with her bold fury, lives inside of Saffron, pushing her toward independence and escape. DUST OF 100 DOGS is a fascinating, highly original action novel that weaves brilliantly written historical passages with more standard modern teen ones. Written non-linearly we see Emer as an innocent child living Ireland during the merciless attacks of Oliver Cromwell. She sees her parents and brother murdered before being taken away by her sadistic uncle, who also hid during the attack. She so miserable living with her uncle’s family that she forgoes speaking for several years. Thus begins the hardships that end with Emer’s eventual transformation to pirate.
Terra secretly plans to escape her family, her boyfriend (who people think she should be grateful for, even though she doesn’t love him) and her stifling small town. She’s rushing her way through high school so she can graduate a year early. Her plans are carefully mapped out. But of course, her father finds a way to ruin her plans. Just when things are looking hopeless, Terra meets a most unusual boy who really understands her. Suddenly she finds herself being pushed in an unexpected, scary, and exciting direction.