Headley, Justina Chen 1968-

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Headley, Justina Chen 1968-

Personal

Born 1968, in PA; married; children. Education: Stanford University, graduate; studied writing at University of Washington. Hobbies and other interests: Running, walking, reading, yoga.

Addresses

Home—Seattle, WA. Agent—Steven Malk, Writers House, 21 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10010. E-mail— [email protected].

Career

Writer. Microsoft Corp., Seattle, WA, formerly worked in marketing; editor and publisher of periodicals in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; StrataGem (consultant to non-profit organizations), Seattle, founder; founder of scholarship contest for young writers.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Writings

The Patch (picture book), illustrated by Mitch Vane, Charlesbridge (Watertown, MA), 2006.

Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies) (young-adult novel), Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2006.

Girl Overboard (young-adult novel), Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2008.

Sidelights

Called an "impressive debut" by a Publishers Weekly contributor, Justina Chen Headley's young-adult novel Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies) intro-

duces readers to fifteen-year-old Patty Ho, a Taiwanese American whose efforts to fit in with her Caucasian schoolmates while also placating her Old-World relatives are made easier to bear because of the teen's healthy sense of humor. When Patty is sent to a summer math camp at Stanford University, she finds herself on her own and free from others' expectations for the first time in her life. With the help of a caring aunt and some family photos that help her make sense of her single mom's frustration and her absentee father, Patty also finds a new best friend in the self-reliant Jasmine, experiences her first kiss with the good-looking Stu, and gains a stronger sense of self. Praising Headley's use of "creative wordplay," the Publishers Weekly critic also cited Headley's ability to let her heroine's "lively, first-person narrative" track's the girl's "emotional maturation during the course of an eventful summer." In Kirkus Reviews a contributor wrote that Headley's likeable narrator "never loses her nervy bounce or her need to tell it all as it's happening." Noting the author's focus on "those who live between two distinct cultures," School Library Journal reviewer Amy S. Pattee added that, with its "funny and thoughtful moments," Nothingbut the Truth (and a Few White Lies) shows Headley's voice to be "a new and much-needed one that shows great promise."

Geared for younger readers, Headley's picture book The Patch was inspired by her own daughter's amblyompia. In Headley's story, five-year-old Becca is confronted by a disease of the eyes that requires her to wear not only eyeglasses, but a patch over one eye in order to see. Facing the other students in her kindergarten class is made easier when Becca, wearing purple eyeglasses and a pink eye patch, uses her vivid imagination to create a team of alter-egos. With the help of Becca the Ballerina Pirate and Becca the Private Eye, she inspires her classmates to wish for eye patches of their own. Calling The Patch "a lovely and surprising story" in which "Becca's exuberance shines through," School Library Journal reviewer Genevieve Gallagher predicted that the book would be popular with story-hour fans, while in Booklist Gillian Engberg described it as a "well-paced, reassuring offering on an unusual topic."

Headley, who is involved with non-profit groups through her own company, StrataGem, donated the proceeds of her first two children's books to charitable causes. In 2006, she sponsored the Nothing but the Truth essay contest, the winner of which received a five-thousand-dollar college scholarship, and a portion of the proceeds from The Patch were donated to Infant-SEE, which provides parents of infants with no-cost eye assessments. Headley's second young-adult novel, Girl Overboard, was scheduled for release in early 2008.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of The Patch, p. 55.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June, 2006, Loretta Gaffney, review of Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies, p. 454.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2006, review of The Patch, p. 42; March 15, 2006, review of Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies), p. 291.

Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006, review of The Patch, p. 69; April 10, 2006, review of Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies), p. 72.

School Library Journal, February, 2006, Genevieve Gallagher, review of The Patch, p. 103; July, 2006, Amy S. Pattee, review of Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies), p. 104.

Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2006, Rebecca C. Moore, review of Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies), p. 46.