![](\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-a1vWMfAjYj4\/TmE_mQADq0I\/AAAAAAAADC4\/6fzO9k7grYw\/s1600\/NorthofBeautiful.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\nNorth of Beautiful<\/i> is another absorbing story of identity\u2014and what truly makes us US, both inside and out\u2014from Justina Chen, author of Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies)<\/i> (reviewed here<\/a>) and Girl Overboard<\/i> (reviewed here<\/a>). <\/p>\n Just as a quick aside, I want to mention how much I liked the cover for this one\u2014rather than being a headless figure (you know how I feel about those), we have ONLY A HEAD! More than that, though, I really thought the use of a compass rose overlaying her cheek was an evocative way to depict the character’s birthmark without being too literal about it. Kudos!<\/p>\n Reader Gut Reaction<\/b><\/i>: There is a lot of just plain cool stuff<\/i> in this book: geocaching, a trip to China (which brought back some fun travel memories<\/a>), heartfelt artwork, and a hot Asian Goth guy. But that doesn’t detract from the seriousness of the story itself. Terra Cooper (the narrator) and her brothers Claudius and Mercatur were all rather unfortunately given cartographical monikers by their father, a disgraced mapmaker who rules the family with an iron fist. Terra doesn’t want to make waves any more than she has to\u2014she already attracts enough attention with the port-wine birthmark that spreads across her cheek. But when the good-looking Jacob enters her life with a crash\u2014literally\u2014Terra ultimately has to rethink whether attracting attention is a bad thing, or maybe, sometimes, a good thing…<\/p>\n Concerning Character<\/b><\/i>: Each character in this book\u2014and there is a sizable cast of minor characters in addition to the protagonist Terra and her love interest, Jacob\u2014is believable and fully rounded. I was impressed by the realistic portrayal of a wide range of motivations and reactions, particularly within Terra’s family, when it comes to her father, mother, and brothers and how they deal with tensions in the family. Each sibling, and even Terra’s mother, reacts differently to her father’s tyranny over their lives; however, that tyranny itself is not simply gratuitous but is there for a reason, a reaction to his own troubles. Terra’s fear, her desire to be normal and to not be equated with her birthmark, rings true for anyone who has ever felt judged by their appearance, and hampered by those judgments. <\/p>\n Recommended for Fans Of…<\/b><\/i>: Stories of self-discovery and opening oneself up to the unknown, like Beth Kephart’s Nothing but Ghosts<\/i> (reviewed here<\/a>); stories about finding yourself by getting a little lost in unexpected places, like Absolutely Maybe<\/i> by Lisa Yee (reviewed here<\/a>) and Chasing Alliecat<\/i> by Rebecca Fjelland Davis (reviewed here<\/a>). Stories about broken families trying to heal, like Split<\/i> by Swati Avasthi (reviewed here<\/a>). <\/p>\n Themes & Things<\/b><\/i>: In the end, this story conveys the idea that we can find hope in finding ourselves, and that sometimes you have to be willing to lose yourself\u2014to let go of what you think is YOU\u2014in order to find yourself. Also important is the idea of beauty\u2014inner and outer, and which is truly the most important to making us who we are. <\/p>\n Authorial Asides<\/b><\/i>: Justina Chen keeps a blog, Wordlings<\/a>, and she’s also one of the co-founders of the fabulous Readergirlz<\/a> project. You can see her (and me!) speak as part of a panel on diversity at this year’s Kidlitcon<\/a> in Seattle, Sept. 16-17. <\/p>\n