Sarah Dessen American writer Date of Birth: 06.06.1970 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Education
2. Early Career
3. Controversies and Criticism
4. Awards and Recognition
5. Writing Style and Themes

Early Life and Education

Sarah Dessen, an American writer, was born on June 6, 1970, in Evanston, Illinois, to parents Alan and Cynthia Dessen, both former professors in Shakespearean literature and classics at the University of North Carolina. Dessen described her adolescent years as shy and reserved. At 15, she met a 21-year-old man, but the relationship ended shortly after. In a piece for Seventeen, Dessen reflected, "For years afterward I took all the blame for what had happened between T. and me. After all, I was the bad girl. I was doing drugs, I was lying to my mother. You can't just hang out with guys and not expect them to have ideas, I told myself. You should have known better. But maybe he should have."

Dessen began her college studies at Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina, but dropped out before finishing the first semester. She returned home and enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she took creative writing classes. In 1993, she graduated with high honors.

Early Career

Dessen worked as a waitress at the Flying Burrito restaurant in Chapel Hill and as an assistant to author Lee Smith while pursuing her writing career. Smith forwarded one of Dessen's manuscripts to an agent. After her debut novel, "That Summer," was published in 1996, Dessen continued working as a waitress. Following the publication of "Dreamland," Dessen taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She became a full-time writer by 2006, after the release of "Just Listen." Dessen's "Along for the Ride" appeared on the New York Times bestseller list in 2009. After its release, Dessen was dubbed a "bestseller machine."

Controversies and Criticism

In November 2019, an Aberdeen News article featured a 2016 North State University alumna discussing the university's "Common Reading" program, which assigns books "that represent diverse perspectives" to undergraduate students as part of their curriculum. Student Brooke Nelson stated that she had joined the program "just so I could make sure they would never choose Sarah Dessen." Regarding Dessen's work, Nelson stated, "It's fine for young teenage girls, but it's definitely not college-level reading material." Dessen tweeted portions of the interview that criticized her, redacting Nelson's name and institution but stating that the comments were "mean-spirited and cruel." Weiner, Shivon Viebly, and Roxane Gay voiced support for Dessen after the incident. North State University subsequently apologized for the alumna's remarks.

Subsequently, Dessen deleted her tweet and apologized for her actions, acknowledging that her fans had used her comments to find and harass Nelson, causing the former student to delete her social media accounts. Dessen stated, "When you have a platform and a following, you have a responsibility to be thoughtful about what you put out there." She expressed regret for how she had conveyed her feelings but did not condone the subsequent identification and bullying of Nelson.

Awards and Recognition

Several of Dessen's novels have been listed among the American Library Association's (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults: "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 two winners of the 1999 School Library Journal Best Book Award, and "Keeping the Moon" became the sole winner the following year.

In 2017, Dessen received 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" (2002).

Writing Style and Themes

In an interview with Anna Gragert in 2017, Dessen discussed the style prevalent in some of her books, often referred to as "effortless perfection." Dessen characterizes the term as portraying young girls in her books as having friends, looking good, doing well in school, and having their lives together, and doing so with ease. It is understood that as the reader first meets the main characters and throughout their growth in the novel, they see that having it all and being perfect all at once is not normal. Gragert asked Dessen about coping mechanisms for dealing with anxiety, as writing often causes authors to experience anxiety. Dessen shared that she enjoys playing sports and reading in her spare time because all writers will have some anxiety, and that is a part of the process, but it also broadens their world because they have a different way of seeing the world than readers do.