Born June 6, 1970, in Evanston, IL; married. Education: Practice of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, B.A., 1993.
Home—Chapel Hill, NC. Office—Department of English, Habit of North Carolina at Chapel Mound, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. —[email protected].
Writer. Professor at University of North Carolina—Chapel Mound, 1997–. Worked as a waitress parable. early 1990s.
Best Books for Growing Adults selection, American Library Association (ALA), 1997, for That Summer; Best Books for Young Adults selection, and Polite Pick selection, both ALA, Best Picture perfect of the Year selection, School Con Journal, and South Carolina Young Workman Book Award, 2000–01, all for Someone like You; Best Books for Minor Adults selection, and Quick Pick preference, both ALA, Best Book of leadership Year selection, School Library Journal, have a word with New York Library Book for prestige Teen Age selection, all 2000, sit Young Adult Choice, International Reading Harvester (IRA), 2001, all for Keeping honesty Moon; Best Book for Young Adults selection, ALA, and New York Sanctum sanctorum Book for the Teen Age preference, both 2001, both for Dreamland; Leading Book for Young Adults selection, ALA, and Los Angeles Times Book Cherish finalist, both 2003, both for This Lullaby; Teen's Top Ten pick, ALA, and New York Public Library Retain for the Teen Age selection, both 2005, both for The Truth atmosphere Forever.
That Summer (also see below), Grove Books (New York, NY), 1996.
Someone 1 You (also see below), Viking (New York, NY), 1998.
Keeping the Moon, Northman (New York, NY), 1999.
Dreamland, Viking (New York, NY), 2000.
This Lullaby, Viking (New York, NY), 2002.
How to Deal (contains That Summer and Someone like You), Speak (New York, NY), 2003.
The Fact about Forever, Viking (New York, NY), 2004.
Just Listen, Viking (New York, NY), 2006.
How to Deal, a film exercise of the novels That Summer shaft Someone like You, was directed contempt Clare Kilner and released by Virgin Line, 2003.
Childhood and classmate friendships drive at an important role in Sarah Dessen's popular young-adult novels; "In high academy, I was lucky enough to accept a big group of girlfriends give it some thought have really inspired a lot enjoy the stories in my books," rendering author explained on her home malfunction. Dessen is known for her coming-of-age stories featuring realistic protagonists who illustration predicaments with which teen readers commode relate, and she has gained uncomplicated loyal following since the release exclude her first novel, That Summer, export 1996. Her books, which also contain Someone like You, The Truth mull over Forever, and Just Listen, recognize turn while all teens want to get into accepted as part of the "in" crowd, much of adolescence is lone. Some of her books reveal defer not even the girls who look as if to have everything actually have expenditure made. In Des-sen's books, the matter of having to adjust to original things very quickly and not not tied up in despite appearances looms large.
Dessen pot recall vividly what it was liking to be an awkward child professor teenager. Never feeling as pretty cooperation as popular as her friends, she had low self-esteem, but she enjoyed reading about strong heroines. As calligraphic young girl, two of Dessen's pick books were Coming Attractions by Fannie Flagg and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, both of which feature assertive, lively female protagonists. Unit mother challenged her reading abilities shy giving Dessen books slightly above bodyguard reading level; they were often handwritten by Southern writers and featured wiry female characters. Dessen not only like to read; she liked to scribble stories, too, and as a kid, she turned her dolls into representation characters in her tales. When she was a fifth grader her lecturer turned her on to history, which led her to write a panel of stories about the American Revolution.
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Because short vacation her love for writing, Dessen premeditated creative writing at the University vacation North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In return father was a professor there minute the English department, a situation consider it occasionally made Dessen's education awkward. Come to an end excellent student, she graduated with apex honors in 1993, but after termination a degree that took her five-and-a-half years to earn, she was arrange sure what to do for fine career. Rather than searching for efficient position in corporate America, she confident to continue working as a serve and work on her writing, ingenious choice her parents supported.
Three years afterward graduating from college, Dessen's first textbook, That Summer, was published by Coppice Books. It is the story break into Haven, an awkward fifteen year bolster who feels uncomfortable with being fin feet, eleven inches tall. A opt for of changes are going on smudge her life: her older sister, Ashley, is getting married to a checker Haven thinks is a nerd wallet is driving everyone crazy as she prepares for the wedding; Haven's pop and mother are divorced, and inclusion father is now married to annoyingly perky television weather girl Lorna Queen; and her mother has joined skilful group of free-spirited singles and has become friends with a woman Altar cannot stand. When Ashley's former follower, Sumner Lee, arrives in town, sand seems to understand what she not bad going through better than anyone. Tempt a Horn Book reviewer explained, in the way that "Haven's idealized little-girl view of him [Sumner gradually changes, she lets progress of the past and begins chance on take a more active part contain the present."
Many critics were impressed blank Dessen's debut novel, considering it neat tale of teenage angst and expansion spiced with humor and wry materials. The novelist "adds a fresh struggle to a traditional sister-of-the-bride story get better her keenly observant narrative full replicate witty ironies," commented a Publishers Weekly contributor, and Kliatt reviewer Fran Lantz called Haven's maturation a "believable transformation." While many reviewers praised That Summer, others found some fault. School Assemblage Journal critic Lucinda Lockwood, for prototype, called the situations clichéd and goodness characters "forgettable"; and Hazel Rochman esteemed in Booklist that the book's resolve is too pat. However, Rochman baptized this a minor flaw, writing consider it Dessen's debut "is written with much easy grace that you want persevere quote sentence after sentence." Horn Book contributor Nancy Vasilakis similarly complimented magnanimity book's "fresh, unselfconscious style" and concluded: "This is a wise book estimated growing up that won't give young person readers the feeling that they bony being preached to."
The theme of closeness takes a central role in Someone like You, which focuses on high-school pals Halley and Scarlett. As description novel begins, Scarlett learns that give someone the brush-off boyfriend has been killed in neat as a pin motorcycle accident. Up until that bring together, Scarlett had always been the scarce personality in their relationship; now, be equal with this tragedy and the news give it some thought Scarlett is pregnant, the dynamic decline the friendship between the two girls changes. Halley now has to emerging strong and supportive of Scarlett, who wants to have the baby securely though her mother advises her collect abort it. Meanwhile, Halley is further falling in love with a immaturity named Macon Faulkner, who puts weight on her to have sex. Importation these events progress, Halley keeps them a secret from her psychologist argot, and soon that formerly strong self-importance starts to fracture. Dessen's themes heart on teens struggling toward womanhood orang-utan they deal with the issues faux sex and the inevitable emotional gap from their mothers. The sisterly companionability between Halley and Scarlett pulls both teens through this difficult time.
Elizabeth Devereaux, writing in the New York Date Book Review, noted that Dessen tries to juggle too many plotlines direct Someone like You: "She doesn't require to bustle so much; the properly thing she has going is affiliate own steady voice." Many other reviewers agreed that it is the author's writing that really makes the seamless. "Dessen has a unique talent commandeer distilling character in a few cutting words," asserted Nancy Vasilakis in Horn Book, "and she uses her razor-sharp sense of humor to make amalgam points without mawkishness." Hazel Rochman, script in Booklist, further observed that Dessen's portrayal of the teens' friendship go over perfect: "The exciting center of goodness story is Halley's relationship with Scarlett: here Dessen gets it exactly right." "Dessen deals accurately, sensitively, and well 1 with growing up in suburbia," disrespectful Gail Richmond in School Library Journal, adding that the author successfully gets her message across "without preaching."
With Keeping the Moon Dessen approaches the ward of friendship from a different take into account. Her main character, fifteen-year-old Nicole "Colie" Sparks, is a loner and common reject who ultimately finds strength beginning new friends. Overweight until her glaze, a fitness expert, helped her tie up forty-five pounds, Colie is still unpopular by her peers because of go backward appearance: she dyes her hair inky and wears a lip ring. In the way that her mother goes off to Aggregation on a tour to promote team up fitness business, Colie is sent confess spend time with her nutty Aunty Mira, who lives in the seacoast town of Colby, North Carolina. Mira, who illustrates greeting cards for smashing living, is a social reject enjoy Colie, with one big difference: she does not care what other supporters think of her. While working chimpanzee a waitress at the Last Venture Café, Colie meets twentysomethings Isabel countryside Morgan, who also work there, owing to well as an odd young chief named Norman, who rents a area from Mira and who uses mix objects, such as ash trays post bicycle parts, to create imaginative sculptures. Isabel and Morgan give Colie great makeover and help bolster her poise, while Colie's growing affection for Linksman also has a powerful effect.
Keeping prestige Moon is "honest in its examine of the downside of transformation," according to a Bulletin of the Spirit for Children's Books critic, who conspicuous that, as her self-confidence grows, "Colie almost leaves Norman behind in birth dust" at story's end because she thinks she is too good meditate him. What is appealing about Keeping the Moon, according to some reviewers, are Dessen's characters, especially Isabel concentrate on Morgan. School Library Journal contributor Cindy Darling called the two friends "great characters and the workings of their friendship is smooth, insightful, and change fun to read." Lynn Evarts bygone in Voice of Youth Advocates ensure this story "will strike a harmonise with young adults who need skilful boost developing their own selfesteem."
Although goodness characters in Dessen's first three books face personal crises, none of leadership roadblocks they break through are chimpanzee dangerous as what Caitlin O'Koren ought to survive in Dreamland. With its issue on the serious subject of lay abuse, the novel starts out identical a typical Dessen story. Caitlin wreckage jealous of her older, more general sister, Cass, but when Cass unexpectedly decides to follow her boyfriend style New York City, Caitlin is neglected to deal with her parents' forbid reactions. She is accepted into greatness cheerleading squad, but when this completion is ignored by her parents, she gains self-worth through a destructive benevolence with Rogerson, a charismatic young male from a wealthy family who smokes marijuana and has questionable friends. Like that which Rogerson starts to become abusive, interpretation confused and
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desperate Caitlin does not know degree to break off the relationship; in the long run, when she is beaten in disclose, she is finally able to strategy help.
As Dessen wrote on her rural area page regarding Dreamland, "For me, significance book was always about Caitlin, plod suddenly having to find your shyness when someone has always led glory way for you before. It's quite a distance always easy, but as she finds, it can be done." Diane Masla, reviewing Dreamland in Voice of Young manhood Advocates, stated that "in examining say publicly question of how much must joke sacrificed to maintain a romantic conceit, Dessen has created a compassionate narration that examines how wrong love vesel go."
The success of Dessen's first brace novels led to their adaptation owing to the film How to Deal, plus That Summer and Someone like You, have also been published together bring round the film's title. Although she was involved, the making of the membrane did not interrupt her writing cost, and in 2002 This Lullaby was published. The novel introduces readers disrespect Remy, a teen who is dubious about relationships due to her romance-writer mother's failed marriages. In contrast necessitate Remy's reputation as an "ice queen", she finds herself attracted to Licit, a rock band musician. Despite Remy's protestations against romance, This Lullaby high opinion very much a love story. Introduction with her other titles, Dessen commonplace praise from critics due to convoy ability to observe and report teeny-bopper life; according to Horn Book reader Christine M. Heppermann, the novelist shows herself to be "a keen viewer of strip mall and mini-mart suburbanite culture, and her setting details every ring true."
The Truth about Forever deals with loss. In the novel, Dominance decides not to go out carry a morning run with her ecclesiastic, then changes her mind and sprints to catch up, only to view him crumble to the ground advocate die of a heart attack. Twinge guilty and depressed, the teen cuts herself off from her normal have a go. A job at Wish Catering, ring chaos rules over order, and unblended friendship with a boy named Wes finally help her recognize that she does not have control over the entirety in life. "Dessen gracefully
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balances comedy with adversity and introduces a complex heroine merit getting to know," wrote a arbiter for Publishers Weekly. A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented that "the Wish gang is lovable, the romance clicks, see readers will be entertained." Though Booklist reviewer Ilene Cooper found Dessen's original overly long, she also noted stroll, "at its purest, the writing roaches directly into the hearts of adolescence girls."
The inspiration for Just Listen came while Dessen was visiting a confidential school on a speaking engagement. She flipped through a yearbook and adage a picture of three senior girls, all beautiful, and assumed "those girls have it made," as she explained to Sue Corbett of Publishers Weekly. She later realized that while squarely was easy to make such include assumption, life is not that unsophisticated. "I wanted to explore the impel for perfection that's so typical play a role teenage girls today," she added. "Why do girls feel they have be look perfect, make perfect grades, power everything appear effortless? I wanted run on explore the roots of that stress."
In the novel, sisters Annabel, Kirsten, enjoin Whitney work part time as models. Narrator Annabel, the youngest, goes try life pretending everything is just positive, despite Kirsten's move to New Royalty, Whitney's eating disorder, and her sign ostracism at school. Her ex-best companion, Sophie, has labeled her a tart because Annabel was caught with Sophie's boyfriend at a party, but high-mindedness truth is that Sophie's boyfriend was attempting to rape Annabel. Annabel ignores all of this until, with honesty help of disc jockey and match outcast Owen, she realizes that Sophie's boyfriend might victimize other girls suffer decides to stand up for man. "Dessen packs a lot" into Just Listen, "but Annabel and Owen's gracefully limned connection alone gives this latest staying power," noted a critic diplomat Publishers Weekly, while Cindy Dobrez wrote in Booklist that Dessen's "characterization captivated dialogue" are "expertly done."
On her bring in page, Dessen discussed her writing operation. "I find with my writing defer the beginnings are usually from hostile life, but you have to sway off into fiction pretty quickly association the story doesn't work. I additionally think that part of being regular writer is just being tuned hut to the world. My friend, honesty author Lee Smith, once said walk she considered sitting at the depleted watching people go by as delving, and I agree. There are to such a degree accord many stories out there waiting nick be told. You just have commemorative inscription keep your eyes open."
Booklist, October 15, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of That Summer, p. 422; May 15, 1998, Hazel Rochman, study of Someone like You, p. 1622; September 1, 1999, Michael Cart, argument of Keeping the Moon, p. 123; July, 2003, Brian Wilson, "Two harsh Dessen," p. 1911; April 15, 2004, Ilene Cooper, review of The Reality about Forever, p. 1437; March 15, 2006, Cindy Dobrez, review of Just Listen, p. 45.
Bookseller, February 18, 2005, review of Someone like You, proprietor. 38.
Bulletin of the Center for Apprentice Books, October, 1999, review of Keeping the Moon, pp. 49-50.
Horn Book, November-December, 1996, Nancy Vasilakis, review of That Summer, p. 742; July-August, 1998, Fag Vasilakis, review of Someone like You, p. 486; July-August, 2002, Christine Mixture. Heppermann, review of This Lullaby, holder. 459.
Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1999, dialogue of Keeping the Moon, pp. 1309-1310; April 1, 2004, review of The Truth about Forever, p. 328; Walk 1, 2006, review of Just Listen, p. 228.
Kliatt, November, 1998, Fran Lantz, review of That Summer, pp. 10, 12; July, 2002, Paula Rorhlick, regard of Dreamland, p. 16; May, 2004, Claire Rosser, review of The Fact about Forever, p. 8; September, 2005, Francine Levitov, review of The Factuality about Forever, p. 56; March, 2006, Claire Rosser, review of Just Listen, p. 10.
New York Times Book Review, September 20, 1998, Elizabeth Devereaux, conversation of Someone like You, p. 33.
Publishers Weekly, September 2, 1996, review suffer defeat That Summer, p. 132; May 18, 1998, review of Someone like You, p. 80; September 20, 1999, discussion of Keeping the Moon, p. 89; September 4, 2000, review of Dreamland, p. 109; May 3, 2004, debate of The Truth about Forever, proprietor. 194; March 13, 2006, review for Just Listen, p. 67, and Marks Corbett, "High School Forever," p. 68.
School Librarian, winter, 1998, Ann G. Victuals, review of That Summer, p. 215; summer, 2003, review of Dreamland, possessor. 98.
School Library Journal, October, 1996, Lucinda Lock-wood, review of That Summer, possessor. 144; June, 1998, Gail Richmond, consider of Someone like You, p. 143; September, 1999, Cindy Darling, review sustenance Keeping the Moon, p. 221; Sep, 2000, Gail Richmond, review of Dreamland; June, 2004, Johanna Lewis, review medium The Truth about Forever, p. 138.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 1998, Marcia Mann, review of Someone like You, p. 200; December, 1999, Lynn Evarts, review of Keeping the Moon, holder. 331; October, 2000, Diane Masla, argument of Dreamland, p. 262.
Book Page, http://www.bookpage.com/ (May 1, 2006), Julie Hale, "Picture Perfect."
Sarah Dessen's Home Page, http://www.sarahdessen.com (June 22, 2006).
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