A Blind Spot for Boys by Justina Chen Giveaway & Interview

A Blind Spot for Boys by Justina Chen 

Publication Date: August 12, 2014 

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis: Shana Wilde has always had a blind spot for boys. Can she trust the one who’s right in front of her?

Shana is officially on a Boy Moratorium. After a devastating breakup, she decides it’s time to end the plague of Mr. Wrongs and devote herself to her true passion: photography. Enter Quattro, the undeniably intriguing lacrosse player who slams into Shana one morning in Seattle. Sparks don’t simply fly; they ignite—and so does Shana’s interest. But just as she’s about to rethink her ban on boys, she receives crushing news: Her dad is going blind. Shana and her parents vow to make the most of the time her father has left to see, so they plan a photo safari to Machu Picchu. But even as Shana travels away from Quattro, she can’t get him out of her mind. Love and loss, humor and heartbreak collide in this new novel from acclaimed author Justina Chen (North of Beautiful).

About the Author

Justina Chen is an award-winning novelist for young adults whose books include A Blind Spot for Boys, Return to Me, and North of Beautiful (a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and Barnes & Noble). Her other novels are Girl Overboard (a Junior Library Guild premiere selections) and Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies), which won the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. A passionate advocate of teen advocacy, Justina co-founded readergirlz, a cutting-edge literacy and social media project for teens, which won the National Book Foundation’s Prize for Innovations in Reading. When she isn’t writing for teens, Justina is an executive communications strategista. That’s a fancy way of saying that she helps leaders tell their stories at companies like Disney and AT+T, NASDAQ and Microsoft. What she enjoys best is trekking the world with her two compadres, her teen kids.

Interview:

Where are you from? Seattle

Tell us your latest news? So happy to announce that my new YA novel, A BLIND SPOT FOR BOYS, was just named one of the Top 10 Romances for Youth by Booklist. What an honor!

When and why did you begin writing? In second grade, I wrote my very first YA novel and have never really stopped writing and telling stories since.

When did you first consider yourself a writer? It wasn’t until I saw my first novel (Nothing but the truth and a few white lies) in bookstores when I really felt like a writer.

What inspired you to write your first book? The same impulse to write my first novel is the one that inspired me to write my latest one: I had a truth I wanted to tell. For this current novel, it was to encourage girls and women to heal from their former heartbreaks and to move on. You can’t have your former relationships define you.

Do you have a specific writing style? Honest and hopefully, a little humorous!

How did you come up with the title? The protagonist in my book is the female Helen of Troy of her high school who keeps picking the wrong guys. As well, she is a photographer whose father is going blind. So A BLIND SPOT FOR BOYS touches on multiple elements of the novel—photography, sight, and her Achilles heel—bad boys.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Live the life you want.

How much of the book is realistic? The entire book tackles situations we all face: the end of a relationship. The loss of a lifelong dream. The start of an unexpected adventure. So I would say that it’s realistic.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? I have had the strangest serendipitous experiences in my life. For instance, I bumped into a friend I hadn’t seen in years while strolling across the St. Andrews golf course in Scotland. I happened upon my favorite professor in a Parisian café. And I’ve sat next to the nurse who worked with the doctor who pioneered a medical procedure that I was writing about—the day after I needed to know how the procedure worked. Yes, all true, and these experiences are only one of many, many, many small world occurrences that have happened to me.

What books have most influenced your life most? The Betsy-Tacy series, especially Betsy and Joe, impacted my early life, teaching me about true friendship and the kind of soul mate love that I want. As well, I’m pretty sure that an essay about my favorite childhood book, The Phantom Tollbooth, got me into Stanford. As for adult work, I really love the Bible. The Far Pavilions got me through adolescence, and Home Safe got me through my divorce.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? Janet Lee Carey (Dragonswood) was my writing teacher and to this day, we still trade manuscripts. I trust her judgment so much.

What book are you reading now? I just finished Eleanor and Park and thought it deserved all the accolades that it received.

What are your current projects? I’m in the midst of a brand-new contemporary realistic YA novel right now. It’s in that magical new stage where I can’t even begin to talk about it.

What would you like my readers to know? Of all my novels, A Blind Spot for Boys was the most fun one to write. It has romance and adventure (including a trek to Machu Picchu) all while dealing with the idea of lost dreams and newfound hope.

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