Against All Odds

Before the world knew her son, Pattie Mallette was fighting to survive.

Pregnant at seventeen and carrying wounds from years of abuse, she faced pressure to end a pregnancy she felt she could not abandon. With no clear plan for motherhood, she held onto one determination: to give her baby a chance, despite an uncertain future she could imag…

In her interview and memoir, Pattie Mallette describes a youth shaped by sexual abuse, shame, and self-blame. Depression and substance use compounded her suffering, and she survived a suicide attempt as a teenager.

When she became pregnant at 17, others urged her to end the pregnancy. She recounts deciding she could not do so, even without knowing how she would support a child. What followed was the difficult work of young, single motherhood.

One memory stands apart: Justin’s first cry. To Mallette, it sounded like music—the most precious sound she had heard—and she wanted to hold him forever.

Her book, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber’s Mom, follows the journey from her painful past to raising a future global star. At its heart, her account emphasizes faith, resilience, and the determination to care for her son through hardship, without pretending she had every answer along the way.