North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Terra plans to leave her controlling father and weak mother behind when she heads to college a year early across the country.  But it will not be so easy to leave her history behind her, she carries it with her every day.  Just like the large port wine stain on half of her face, her ego and every thought are marked by her family life.  And just like that birthmark, she tries to cover over and mask the truth.  When she literally bumps into Jacob, an intriguing Goth boy who immediately understands her like no one else has, her life begins to change.   She starts to face the truth of what her family is and what her own role is in the dysfunction.  But will she ever be able to face the world without her mask?

Beautifully written, this book is like gazing into someone’s soul put to paper.  At times it is filled with such raw honesty that it is painful to read.  Each reader will bring their own stain to the book, see themselves reflected within, and take heart away from it.  Headley writes with a confidence and gentle natural rhythm that carries one through the novel.  It is as impossible to put down as any book I have read recently. 

Headley’s touch with the love story in the novel is deft and brilliant.  From the tiny touches that mean so much, to the electricity in eye contact, it brings all of those feelings vividly to life.  She also weaves cartography into the text with a beautiful touch that allows it to have symbolic meaning to the reader but not over take the book by being heavy handed. 

This book will speak to any reader who picks it up.  It is for those who fit in and those who don’t, those who are in love and those who think they never will be.  Simply brilliant, this is definitely one of the top teen novels of the year.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.