Justina Chen Headley was born in 1968 in Pennsylvania. She studied writing at the University of Washington and is also a graduate of Standford University. Headley's first young-adult novel about a Taiwanese-American teen was well-received for its upbeat narrative voice and exploration of life in two unique cultures. Her picture book for children, The Patch, features an imaginative character who wears both an eye patch and glasses, and was based on her own daughter's experience with amblyompia. Headley is involved with non-profit groups through her company, StrataGem, and donated the proceeds from her first two children's books to charities. She also sponsored a "Nothing but the Truth" essay contest in 2006, which offered a five-thousand-dollar college scholarship to the winner. Headley lives in Seattle with her spouse and children, and also enjoys running, reading, and yoga.
Biographical Source: Something About the Author, vol. 176, pp. 95-96.
From the guide to the Justina Chen Headley Papers, 2009, (University of Minnesota. Children's Literature Research Collections. [clrc])
