Well, I'm back. And alive. Still. I don't think that I've been attacked by zombies. :)
Let's look at Sarah Dessen this time around, shall we?
"Sarah Dessen grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and attended
UNC-Chapel Hill, graduating with highest honors in Creative Writing. She
is the author of several novels, including Someone Like You, Just Listen and Along for the Ride. A motion picture based on her first two books, entitled How to Deal, was released in 2003. Her tenth novel,What Happened to Goodbye, was published in May 2011. She lives in North Carolina." [courtesy of Sarah Dessen's website]
So, author of ten [10] books. I'd have to say that that's pretty huge. I mean, who do you know that's written and published 10 widely popular YA [Young Adult] novels? Here's a quick overview of each of them:
That Summer
Haven is 15 and over 6 foot. Her life is changing extremely quickly- her dad is getting remarried and her older sister Ashley is planning her own wedding. Needless to say, Haven is completely overwhelmed and wishes that things could go back to 'normal'. Through an ex-boyfriend of Ashley's who comes back to town, haven learns to accept the present and see the past for what it actually was.
Someone Like You
Halley and Scarlett have always been best friends- but when Scarlett's boyfriend is killed in a motorcycle crash and Scarlett learns that she's pregnant with his baby, she's devastated. For the first time, Scarlett REALLY needs Halley. Their friendship may bend, but it won't break.
Keeping the Moon
Colie expects to have a horrible summer when she's sent to live with her Aunt Mira while her "infomerical queen" mother tours Europe. She's been an outcast for most of her life, first because she was fat, then because she was "easy", and doesn't have any friends at home- she definitely doesn't expect to find friends in Colby, NC. But when she gets a job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, she learns to see herself in a new way and realize that her potential's been there all along.
Dreamland
Strange, sleepy
Rogerson, with his long brown dreads and brilliant green eyes, had
seemed to Caitlin to be an open door. With him she could be anybody,
not just the second-rate shadow of her older sister, Cass. But now she
is drowning in the vacuum Cass left behind when she turned her back on
her family's expectations by running off with a boyfriend. Caitlin
wanders in a dream land of drugs and a nightmare of Rogerson's sudden
fists, lost in her search for herself.
This Lullaby
Remy doesn't mess around when it comes to relationships. She's learned well from her mother, who happens to be working on husband number five. However, Dexter seems to be different and defy all of Remy's rules. He doesn't seem like Mr. Right, but she can't seem to shake him. Could it be that she's understanding what those love songs are all about?
The Truth About Forever
Macy Queen is 16-years-old and is looking forward to a long, bleak summer. Her super-smart boyfriend is going away for the summer and she's stuck with his boring job at the library help desk. All of her free time will be spent studying for the SATs and grieving over her father's sudden, unexpected death. But things change when Macy is looped into helping at one of her mother's open house parties and meets the chaotic WISH CATERING crew. Before long, she joins the crew-- she loves everything about it: the work and the people, but most of all Wes. Artistic, understanding, and insightful, Wes gets Macy to look at life in a new way- and really start living it.
Just Listen
Last year, Annabel Greene was the "girl who has everything"- at least, that's the part she played in the Kopf's Department Store commercial. This year she's the girl who has nothing- no best friend since Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister is anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, mysterious and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed "bad-boy" who might just be able to help Annabel come to terms with what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.
Lock and Key
For the past few months, Ruby's been living on her own in the yellow farmhouse since her mother left, managing somehow, knowing that her mother might never return. That's how she came to live with her older sister Cora, whom she hasn't seen in 10 years, and Cora's husband Jamie who is laid back enough that Ruby can hardly believe that he founded the most popular social networking site around, Ume.com. She now lives in a luxurious house, a fancy private school, a new wardrobe, and the promise of a future (with college)-it's a dream come true. But Ruby is reluctant to accept it all....
Along For The Ride
Auden developed insomnia once her parent's divorce happened, or maybe it was when the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer at her dad's with his new family in the charming beach town of Colby, NC. A job at a local clothing boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls; their talk, friendship, and crushes-- things she missed out on being the perfect daughter to her extremely demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of Colby. They embark together on parallel quests: Auden to have the care-free teenage life she's never had and Eli to come to terms with the guilt her carries for his best friend's death.
What Happened To Goodbye
McLean Elizabeth Sweet has moved four times in the past 2 years after her parents' bitter divorce. At each new place, she becomes a different person: Eliza the perky "rah-rah girl", Lizbet drama nut, Beth "all-around joiner". But in Lakeview, she's McLean, whoever that is. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving their unhappy past behind.But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to be herself and stay in one place.
Clearly Sarah Dessen has gotten around. I find her writing to be impeccable and have lost myself in most of her books, finding a part in there that I can relate to, making the book that much more enjoyable to me.
That's all for today,
Exit the World carefully,
Gnome
