Catherine+P-Sum+Read

__ Prompt for Paragraph One - A Reflection of Your Choice __ I read //North of Beautiful// for no other reason than the fact that my mother suggested to me that I read this novel by Justina Chen Headley. This book exceeded my expectation, which was simply to enjoy the book, by giving me a whole new perspective on life. From the quote, “She was just being more Chinese than the Chinese” (Headley, 315), I realized that people tend to imagine ourselves to be more successful and better people than we actually are, and yet it is possible to reacquaint ourselves with who we originally strived to be. At the words “To dream, you need to starve doubt, feed hope. I intended to do that” (Headley, 526), I realized sooner than I would have had I not read this book that hope is all you need to dream, all you need for success, along with the exiling of doubt and fear; even though I have acknowledged that I have been told the truth, it is still something that will take me a long time to truly understand.

Justina, Headley Chen. //North of Beautiful//. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2010. Print.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ // North of Beautiful // changed me in ways I did not expect, same as it did the main character, Terra Cooper, who was used, disrespected, and treated as if she was less than who she deserved to be. Since I have been in Terra’s shoes before, and understand what it is like to feel the need to pretend to be happy and pretend to be someone else, only to later find oneself still hiding behind that mask, this novel has allowed me to learn things about myself that have opened my eyes farther than they ever have before. I realized just how flawed people are and how we so easily lose sight of our original morals and who we want to be, even though, as Terra puts it, “It’s safer to have the trip mapped out, destinations picked beforehand, routes to and from plotted well in advance” (Headley, 224). Terra told of her brother, Merc, freed into the real world, far away from their jail-like home and confinement of her narrow-minded, controlling father, saying “I thought of Merc living the jet-setting life I had dreamed about, but there was nothing glamorous about a life centered on paper and deals, meetings and conference calls” (Headley, 225), which I interpret as: when one hides behind a mask much different than who one truly is, life can be misleading, it is not fun, it is not full.

Justina, Headley Chen. //North of Beautiful//. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2010. Print.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __ The novel //North of Beautiful//, a story about one girl’s challenge to determine her beliefs and morals, focused on her struggle to discover herself, is by an author that I had not heard of. This book somewhat reminded me of the novel //Speak//, by Laurie Halse Anderson, but why, I’m not quite sure, for //North of Beautiful//, a story I can connect with, is truly unlike any other book I’ve read, and while fiction is my favorite genre, this book in particular made me consider a whole other culture; what it would be like to live in China, changing my point of view on life. When Terra’s Chinese boyfriend mentioned how he figured that since people in America were constantly staring at his cleft lip, he might as well choose the terms of their staring, he could dictate what they saw; however during their trip to China, nobody would be staring at him, they instead would be staring at his adoptive mother and Terra (Headley, 203), I realized what Terra realized: that what I have grown self-conscious of throughout the years really is unimportant, what is significant in life is much deeper and is filled with grandeur and passion. I would expect this book to be enjoyed more by girls than boys, but any young adult, or adult for that matter, who is interested in psychology, is searching, or just likes fiction novels about growing up and finding who one truly is would probably like this novel.

Justina, Headley Chen. //North of Beautiful//. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2010. Print.

This sounds like a wonderful book, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. A few things for you to consider for future writings; a power paragraph, while challenging, is a great way to focus your ideas and eliminate words/sentences that do not actively add something to your response; you should not include a comma between the author's last name and the page number in an MLA citation.