Justina Chen (born 1968 in

Ridley Park, Pennsylvania Ridley Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 7,002 at the 2010 census. Ridley Park is the home of The Boeing Company's CH-47 Chinook helicopter division. History Native American The Lenape inhabited the Del ...

) is a Taiwanese-American 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).

Background

Chen was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania in 1968 to Taiwanese-American parents. She later graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

from Stanford in Economics in only three years, where she also won the Dean's Award for Service. After graduating from Stanford, she worked as a marketing executive at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

in Seattle before becoming a novelist and story consultant.

Writing career

After leaving Microsoft to pursue her writing career, Chen first wrote her first book, ''The Patch'' (2006). 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. From 2007 to 2008, Justina toured across the United States with Olympic Gold medalist

Hannah Teter Hannah Teter (born January 27, 1987) is an American snowboarder. She is an Olympic champion, having won the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy and silver at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

to promote her upcoming book, ''Girl Overboard'', and the "Go Overboard" challenge grants co-sponsored by Youth Venture and

Burton Snowboards Burton Snowboards is a privately-owned snowboard manufacturing company that was founded by Jake Burton Carpenter in 1977. The company specializes in products aimed at snowboarders, such as snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear, and accessorie ...

. ''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. ''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. Chen also founded Readergirlz, a literary project targeted at girls, which won a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

for innovations in reading. In 2008, Chen returned to Microsoft as a speechwriter and communications executive for Robert J. Bach, President of Microsoft Entertainment. Four years later, she left Microsoft and returned to novel writing, executive communications and storytelling consulting. She self-published her first business book, ''The Art of Inspiration: Lead Your Best Story'', based on her marketing and storytelling experience. 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 The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Published books

* ''The Patch'' (2006), illustrations by Mitch Vane. Charlesbridge * ''Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies)'' (2006), Little-Brown * ''Girl Overboard'' (2008), Little-Brown * ''North of Beautiful'' (2009), Little-Brown * ''Return to Me'' (2013), Little-Brown * ''A Blind Spot for Boys'' (2014), Little-Brown * ''The Art of Inspiration: Lead Your Best Story'' (2016), Sparkline Creative * ''Lovely, Dark, and Deep'' (2018), Arthur A. Levine Books

References

External links

*
Readergirlz

Interview at Mother Daughter Book Club.com

Profile at Amazon.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Justina 1968 births 21st-century American novelists American people of Taiwanese descent American women writers of Chinese descent American women novelists 21st-century American women writers Living people Date of birth missing (living people)