New Ben & Jerry's Flavor

My GIRL OVERBOARD book tour buddy, Hannah Teter, has her own Ben & Jerry's flavor created and named in her honor: Maple Blondie.


Enjoy it while you can!

Sending Love to Book Chic!

How amazing is this... Book Chic made a vlog for Seven Book Babes. Not only did he wear the Girl Overboard / Burton Snowboards T-shirt that I had sent him many moons ago, but he talked about two fun inside stories nested within NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL. Talk about super astute reader. He truly is Mr. YA Book CSI.

Book Chic: An Author's Best Friend

Thanks to all my readers and friends--my book paparrazzi--who've been messaging me with sightings of my books in their local bookstores.

For instance, Book Chic went around his town to take pix of his favorite authors' books (and to remerchandise some to face out positions). Love that! He found NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL and GIRL OVERBOARD at Barnes & Noble.

http://bookchicclub.blogspot.com/2009/01/pictures-post.html


And then there's Melissa Walker, readergirlz diva and co-founder of iheartdaily.com who's been on the book look out for me.

Sweethearts & Girl Overboard

Look at the Valentine's Day ad that Little, Brown Books created for Sara Zarr's SWEETHEARTS and my GIRL OVERBOARD. How sweet is that. Now, I just need to find the cookie on Sara's book cover.

Reason 1 Why I Write for Teens

So I overheard one fellow YA author dismissing the teens we write for, and I swear, I wanted to reach over and bop the author on the head. Hard.

Here's why I write for teens... I give you Exhibit A, a message I just received on Facebook:

"I finished reading Girl Overboard a few days ago, and it's by far one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. I'm in love with Syrah! She's just such an amazing character, and I'm totally inspired by her ideas.After reading the book, I decided to make a difference too. Of course I can't do things the Syrah Cheng Way (though Ride for Our Lives was a cool idea!) but I'll still try. I've decided to volunteer for World Vision and try to help the kids in Africa suffering from poverty.Anyway, thanks for being such a great author and writing an inspirational book!"

This reader--this teen reader--took ACTION based on a book. She inhaled the words and exhaled change in the world.

What other group does that with so much enthusiasm and abandon? With so little self-doubt?

THIS is why I love writing for teens. I love their watch-out-world mentality. I am so proud to write YA!

Today I am grateful for teens who read, reflect, and reach out--the readergirlz way!

Girl Overboard: In Paperback!

Melissa Walker--new readergirlz diva, author of the fabulous Violet on the Runway series, and co-founder of my new obsession: iheartdaily.com--sent me a paparrazzi shot...of my novel, GIRL OVERBOARD. I didn't realize the book was out in paperback already, but here it is in Barnes & Noble!

Today I am grateful for readers who are still purchasing books to fuel their spirits! And I am grateful for girlfriends who are on the lookout for me.

Parting Thoughts

Here I am, on the eve of leaving America to move to China for our year abroad. It's been a lovely whirlwind of family and friends that's often felt like my own Olympic of goodbyes.

My emotions by Wordle:



The week started with a last goodbye with the readergirlz divas where we toasted each other for our great year and conspired on new literacy programs. And then my mentor, Janet Wong, who refused to let me take her picture. She didn't say anything about me blogging about her though.

Then it was on to the annual Meat-and-Corn Fest at our friends Bill & Kristin's home. If there are any people who can make miracles happen, it's these two.



Yes, yes, Kristin is a genius and bestselling author (The Motherhood Manifesto) and political activist (Moms Rising). But Bill? He can preside over Congress. He can start businesses. And most importantly, he can bake! Here it is, my very own China pie a la Bill.


Then my sister and kids ventured to the Puget Sound Blood Center with me. There, we met some of the crew who, after hearing about Girl Overboard, thought we might have some mutual interest in getting more minorities to give blood and register for the National Bone Marrow registry.

Not only is my sister gorgeous, but she'll be attending nursing school in a few weeks. She was fascinated with our tour: from the blood extraction to the bones warehoused at the center for surgeries. I was...faint. Who knew that bones and heart valves could be...freeze dried. (Fine, fine, there's some scientific term for this procedure, but look at this ankle bone for yourself. Freeze dried, yes?)

And then! At last! My buttons from the wonderful Kyle at Button Arcade arrived just in time. (Love Button Arcade.)

As a present for all the wonderful authors who have blurbed my previous novels and my readergirlz crew, I had their book covers turned into buttons.

Shhhh...it's supposed to be a surprise. But I just had to share since there buttons are so darn cute! Can you name all the books and authors? (Major shout out to Lorie Ann Grover who coordinated this project for me as a PRESENT to me! I love that woman.)

And then...the goodbyes. To my mom and sister. (I can't even begin to express how much I will miss them.) To my kids' track team. To my writing mentor, Janet Lee Carey and Janet Wong. To my readergirlz buddies, Lorie Ann, Dia Calhoun, and Holly Cupala.

And one last goodbye to my local library. I love libraries, and I especially love my local one. Let me ask you this: how many librarians come to your house to say goodbye? How many librarians email you to assure you that they will help you research WHATEVER YOU NEED?!


It's a good thing they offered. Because I need a lot. (Of books, that is. And friends. And family.)

FREE book giveaway!

And now this from Melissa Walker whose VIOLET IN PRIVATE

is featured (and dissected--in a good way!) at readergirlz this month... Guess what? My new writer-buddy is giving away a copy of GIRL OVERBOARD to those intrepid enough to take a fun quiz! (I was wondering why Melissa wanted me to sign the book but not personalize it to her when we were together in San Francisco for Ypulse.) So book on over to Melissa before the end of the week.

Here are the deets from her blog:

"This week, your prize is a signed copy of Justina Chen Headley's fantastic Girl Overboard, which pretty much has it all: family, snowboarding, community service, dim sum and friend-love (yes!).

To win a copy of the book, you have a fun mission: Take this quiz by LaToya Evans ("What's your Spare Time Read?") and tell me what book you get... I thought I knew where I'd end up, but I got The Luxe (which I still haven't read--oops)! It must be that amazing ball gown that I dream of owning."

Kindle: Sparking a Love Affair!

After hearing me whine, cry, and moan about only being allowed to bring 50 books into China next year, my hubby bought me a Kindle.

Today was play day. I am an early adopter of fashion, not of technology. So I gingerly unpacked the Kindle and have to admit: what the device had going for it was the pretty, book-like packaging.

Then it was time to put the book download to a test. Amazon promised that the entire process would take less than a minute. And that's all it took to change me from skeptic to convert. Sixty seconds. In that time, I downloaded BREAKING DAWN and within seconds, Edward was in my hands!

So it's true. Kindle had me at a whisper. Because that promised Whispernet technology? It worked. So I tested my own book. Look!

I was expecting that the device would be a distraction because I love the feel of a book in my hands when I read. But the leather book cover that comes with the Kindle pretty much approximates that bookish feel.

So far, two thumbs up!

Even so, here's my wishlist for Kindle 2.0 (so far):

• I want the book covers to be shown in color, not black & white.
  
• I want to be able to highlight portions of sentences, not the entire line.


• While this form factor is very sleek, I really wish the Kindle wasn't stark white. I'll have to see if there's a cute skin I can wrap around it. And then there are always my Moo stickers that I can use!

Booking Across America: The Truth About Book Tours

A week ago, Deb Friedman—the official queen of cool, former director of women’s marketing at Burton Snowboards, and co-founder of the hip and all-new JustRightResumes—swung through Seattle for my going away party…and to geocache for the first time.

Now that I’m about to begin China Tour 2008 (my upcoming move to Shanghai), it’s long overdue to summarize my favorite parts of

that Deb conceived and managed.

The truth about touring to launch a book is this: it can be long and grueling with multiple events and interviews every day. It takes a ton of people to spearhead—awesome publishers and publicists (go, Rachel Wasdyke--no other publisher better steal her away from Little, Brown--and Media Masters).

For Girl Overboard, we wanted to do something different, something innovative. Something that would make a difference to teens.

So instead of a joe-standard, trot-the-author-around-bookstores book tour, my publisher worked with Burton Snowboards and YouthVenture on a new concept. Put an Olympic Gold Medalist on the road with me as the ultimate Girl Overboard prop. Add a heavy dose of community service that’s so important to me and underscores my book. And voila! An all-new kind of tour with the objective of getting teens psyched to change the world.


Top Moments of Book Touring 2008!

1. Becoming friends with so many exceptional people, especially my book tour partner and Olympic Gold medalist, Hannah Teter, her amazing mom, Pat Teter, and Deb (the marketing wonderwoman who architected the entire tour and challenge grant!).

2. Being in Hannah’s presence and watching her compete at the X-Games in Aspen, CO. More than eating healthily (we found every single organic health food store in all the cities we toured), Hannah lives healthily: donating her time and earnings to causes she believes in. Being with her for weeks was good for my soul.

3. Working with Burton Snowboards and YouthVenture on the Go Overboard Challenge Grant—and inspiring teens to take action. We gave away 12 grants, each $1000 to teens who had amazing ideas to rock the world.

4. Visiting countless high schools and libraries around the country and meeting thousands of students, especially the ones in inner city schools in Chicago, Denver, and the Bay Area. I was so stoked to meet this generation’s changemakers. Look at them! These are the girls who are already leading the change our world needs.

5. Seeing the Go Overboard Challenge Grant included on both the Burton Snowboards & YouthVenture websites! Not bad that the Challenge Grant generated more site traffic for YouthVenture than any other grant before! And then having my publisher (Little, Brown Books) support our grant with a gorgeous “chap book” that was distributed to thousands of people. (Thank you, Lisa nee Laginestra --again, hands off her, you other publishers, you!)

6. Garnering well over 2 million media impressions—meaning that word about the Girl Overboard grant was spread far and wide through all of our TV, radio, web, blog, and print interviews.


7. Meeting amazing librarians and booksellers who are passionate about books, including the extraordinary Sharon Levin and Walter Mayes and Robin Willard who know everything there is to know about YA lit. (Sharon even cooked me a yummy dinner! And her daughter makes a mean guacamole!)

8. Watching my kids recruit 10 other children to host the Peace, Love & Pancakes fundraising dinner. They raised over $10,000 to fund Hannah’s charity work in Kenya. Now, THAT was the ultimate way to end a fantastic tour.

9 and 10. And most of all, connecting to readers and learning that my books made a difference to them.

Thank you to everyone for making the Go Overboard Challenge Grant and the Girl Overboard Book Tour happen. Now, go change the world. Start by reading a good book.