Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen (born June 6, 1970) is an American novelist who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Sarah Dessen was born in Evanston, Illinois, on June 6, 1970 to Alan and Cynthia Dessen, who were both professors at the University of North Carolina, teaching Shakespearean literature and classics.

As a teenager, Dessen was very shy and quiet. She became involved with a 21-year-old when she was 15 but cut all contact with him shortly after. She has admitted in an interview that "for many years afterward, I took total blame for everything that happened between me and T. After all, I was a bad kid. I did drugs, I lied to my mom. You can't just hang out with a guy and not expect him to get ideas, I told myself. You should have known better. But maybe he should have. When I turned 21, I remember making a point, regularly, to look at teens and ask myself whether I'd want to hang out with them, much less date one. The answer was always a flat, immediate no. They were kids. I was an adult. End of story."

Dessen attended Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina, but dropped out not long after to enroll herself at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, to take classes in Creative Writing, resulting in her graduating with highest honors in Creative Writing.

Dessen waitressed at the restaurant Flying Burrito in Chapel Hill while launching her writing career. She would write during the day and waitress at night. She later went on to quit her job as a waitress after the publication of her first book, That Summer, which was published in 1996. Following the publication of Dreamland, Dessen taught at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill and wrote what would later become This Lullaby.

Dessen's Along for the Ride made the New York Times Best Sellers List in 2009. After its publication, Dessen was referred to as a "best-seller machine".

In November 2019, an Aberdeen News article quoted a Northern State University alumna regarding the University's 'Common Read' program, which identifies books "representing diverse points of view" for undergraduate students to read as part of their curriculum. The student, Brooke Nelson, stated that she had joined the program to advocate for civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson's memoir, Just Mercy and to oppose the selection of a book by Dessen in their place. Regarding Dessen's book, she stated, "She’s fine for teen girls, but definitely not up to the level of Common Read."

Dessen posted parts of this interview that were critical of her on Twitter, describing the comments as "mean and cruel". Her post was supported by a number of authors, including Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Weiner, Siobhan Vivian, and Roxane Gay. Following this, Northern State University issued an apology for the alumna's comments. Dessen subsequently deleted her tweet and apologized for her remarks, acknowledging that it had resulted in harassment and bullying of Nelson by her fans,and stating, "With a platform and a following, I have a responsibility to be aware of what I put out there." Several of the other authors who had supported Dessen initially also apologised to Nelson, noting that the excerpt posted by Dessen on her Twitter had not provided context to Nelson's opposition to Dessen's book. Nelson has since deleted her social media accounts following harassment and online bullying.

Some of her novels have been among the ALA's "Best Fiction for Young Adults" selections:That Summer (1997), Someone Like You (1999), Keeping the Moon (2000), Dreamland (2001), This Lullaby (2003), Just Listen (2007), and Along for the Ride (2010). Someone Like You was also one of the two winners of the 1999 "School Library Journal Best Book" award, and Keeping the Moon was the sole winner the next year.

In 2017, Dessen was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her novels Dreamland (2001), Keeping the Moon (2000), Just Listen (2007), The Truth About Forever (2004), Along for the Ride (2010), What Happened to Goodbye? (2011), and This Lullaby (2003).

In 2017, Dessen was interviewed by Anna Gragert. During the interview, Gragert asked Dessen about the style she uses in some of her books, otherwise known as "effortless perfection". Dessen describes this term as the young girls in her books being able to have friends, look good, be a good student and have your life together and make it look easy. At the start of the book, the reader is supposed to relate with the main characters and throughout their changes in the book, the reader should see that it is okay to not have everything together and not be perfect. Gragert asked Dessen about her anxiety coping mechanisms because writing tends to cause an author to be anxious. Dessen said that she likes to exercise and read in her free time because all writers are going to be anxious, it's part of the process, but it also opens their mind more because they see the world differently than readers.

• 1996 – That Summer was the novel fixed upon teenagers living with changes they could not control. The moral of the story is to help influence the audience come to terms with their past, accept the present and look forward to the future.
• 1998 – Someone Like You was based on a true friendship that gets tested when life takes a turn for the worse. Halley and Scarlett have always been best friends but their friendship is tested when Scarlett's boyfriend is killed and she learns she is carrying his baby, which is when she needs Halley more than ever.
• 1999 – Keeping the Moon (also known as Last Chance) focuses on self-esteem issues that children experience when they are different from others. Colie has been bullied for being overweight but it takes others' kind words to help her realize she is beautiful inside and out.
• 2000 – Dreamland explores the life of Caitlin and her chaotic relationships between her family, friends and boyfriend. She eventually learns that, despite looking up to her, her older sister is not perfect, being her boyfriend's victim does not mean she is weak, and that being herself is the best thing she can do.
• 2002 – This Lullaby introduces us to eighteen-year-old Remy who learns to have faith. In the beginning of the book, she is afraid of taking chances because she is unsure of the outcome. Throughout the book she learns that sometimes you have to leap to take a risk, and she enjoys the rush that comes from the leaping.
• 2004 – The Truth About Forever is about a character going through the loss of her father. It takes her perception of the way her peers live their lives to understand that she was shutting herself out from the world and she wants to start living for her father.
• 2006 – Just Listen follows Annabel who seems to be the girl who has everything: a best friend, a good reputation and she models. After a misunderstanding between Annabel and her best friend, she loses everything and has to start the new high school year alone. This is when she meets Owen who helps her out of her comfort zone and reveal her true self.
• 2008 – Lock and Key introduces Ruby who was abandoned by her mother and sent to live with a family member where she learns the difference between being given help and being able to accept it.
• 2009 – Along for the Ride is focused on Auden, whose life starts to fall apart left and right and is losing her sense of direction. She forms a new bond with her baby half sister and takes her on many midnight walks where she learns that there is a whole other world out there when the rest of the world is sleeping.
• 2010 – Infinity (novella) is a short story about a girl who has to make tough decisions regarding her relationships and her life in general. She has to decide if she should fully solve her problems or just take a shortcut.
• 2011 – What Happened to Goodbye allows us to take a look at Mclean Sweet's life and why she would like to make things different. She lived in a small town with her family, when they found out her mother had been having an affair, and ever since all Mclean wanted to do was change the things about her life she didn't like, but couldn't do so easily because everyone knows everything in her hometown.
• 2013 – The Moon and More introduces Emaline who has lived in Colby her whole life with her 'perfect' boyfriend until she meets Theo, an ambitious outsider from New York, who thinks Emaline is too smart for Colby. He tries to convince her that she needs to leave Colby and move to where she fits in, but if she already has perfect, why would she want more?
• 2015 – Saint Anything shows us that Sydney's older brother, Peyton, used to be the star child of the family until he was involved in a drunk driving accident and everyone is worried about him while Sydney's the only one worried about the victim of the accident. It isn't until she meets Mac who makes her feel like she's noticed for the first time.
• 2017 – Once and For All is about Louna who thinks she has found her one true love until a tragedy separates them forever. She takes on a summer job helping brides plan their special day when she meets Ambrose, who just might be what she's been looking for all along.
• 2019 –The Rest of the Story Follows Emma when she unexpectedly spends the summer with her deceased mother's family. She sees the class divides, and the tensions that run with it: including her parents' relationship. And then there's Roo, her childhood best friend and the boy who may have the answers to her questions.

The 2003 romantic comedy-drama film How to Deal starring Mandy Moore, Allison Janney, Dylan Baker, Peter Gallagher and Trent Ford was based on both That Summer and Someone Like You.

On May 30, 2019, it was announced that Netflix had purchased the rights to adapt three of Dessen's books into films: This Lullaby, Along for the Ride, and Once and For All. Along for the Ride will be the first adaptation, and Alyssa Rodrigues is the executive producer for the films.