| Justina Chen | |
| Birth Place: | Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Novelist, Executive Communications Strategist |
| Nationality: | Taiwanese-American |
| Alma Mater: | Stanford University |
| Genre: | Young Adult Fiction |
| Notableworks: | North of Beautiful, Return to Me, A Blind Spot for Boys |
Justina Chen (born 1968 in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania) 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).
Chen was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania in 1968 to Taiwanese-American parents. She later graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford in Economics in only three years, where she also won the Dean's Award for Service.[1] [2] After graduating from Stanford, she worked as a marketing executive at Microsoft in Seattle[2] [3] before becoming a novelist and story consultant.
After leaving Microsoft to pursue her writing career, Chen first wrote her first book, The Patch (2006).[2] 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.[4] From 2007 to 2008, Justina toured across the United States with Olympic Gold medalist Hannah Teter to promote her upcoming book, Girl Overboard, and the "Go Overboard" challenge grants co-sponsored by Youth Venture and Burton Snowboards.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] Chen also founded Readergirlz, a literary project targeted at girls, which won a National Book Award for innovations in reading.[4]
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.[8] She self-published her first business book, The Art of Inspiration: Lead Your Best Story, based on her marketing and storytelling experience.[9] 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.