Along for the Ride-- Sarah Dessen

For those of you who have read this blog from the beginning, you will know that I really love Sarah Dessen... I read her personal blog too, and learned a bit about her process while writing Along for the Ride. While this isn't my favorite book she has ever written, I still quite enjoyed it.

Like all of Dessen's novels, the protagonist is a girl who is smart, witty, and complex. Studious to a fault, top-of-her-class Auden decides to experience life a little more fully by living on the coast with her deadbeat dad, his new wife and baby. Auden's never been a girly-girl. She never dated in high school, and was raised by a feminist mother who taught her that beauty is on the inside and that a smart woman is a powerful woman. When Auden meets Heidi, her dad's new trophy wife, she immediately judges her... but when night-owl Auden meets other girls her age who happen to be beautiful AND intelligent, she has to rethink her preconceived notions... oh, and of course, it wouldn't be a Dessen novel if there wasn't a beautifully imperfect boy around the corner.

So as usual, it's nearly impossible to sum up this Sarah Dessen novel without making it sound boring and cheesy. Her books are never totally straight-forward, which makes them a pleasure to read, but hard to summarize. Still, if you are a fan of well-written books that deal in relationships (romantic, familial, or platonic) this book is for you. It's also a good book to recommend to teens who like to read romance, but don't want mushy-gooshy or graphic sex in their novels.

Author Spotlight: Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen is one of those rare authors who never lets me down. She has written eight books for teens and each one has resonated with me in some way. Her books all have a common theme: they have a female protagonist who has some type of issue or limitation to overcome, which usually happens, but not always in a predictable way. What makes her books especially powerful for me is the way she writes relationships. Friendship is a strong theme in Someone Like You, Keeping the Moon, The Truth about Forever, and Just Listen. Familial relationships, especially with siblings, are particularly strong in That Summer and Lock and Key. And don't forget about romantic relationships, which are present in all of her books, but especially in Dreamland and This Lullaby.

It is hard to summarize what it is about Sarah Dessen that makes her writing so powerful. Maybe it is because she writes romantic fiction that is literary, a-typical, and not heavy-handed. Or, possibly it is how well the reader gets to know the characters in each book; you feel you have bonded with the characters by the time the book is over. But really, I think the reason Sarah Dessen never lets me down is the honest, yearning, painful, elated, and realistic way she writes about teens relating to each other.

Here are Sarah Dessen's books in order of preference... my preference of course!

The Truth about Forever
Someone Like You
Keeping the Moon
This Lullaby
Lock and Key
That Summer
Just Listen
Dreamland

I would recommend Sarah Dessen to teen girls who like Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries), Ann Brashares (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), Jodi Lynn Anderson (Peaches), or E. Lockhart (The Boyfriend List).