Sarah Dessen
Author of Just Listen
About the Author
Sarah Dessen was born in Evanston, Illinois on June 6, 1970. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993 with a degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing. Her first book, That Summer, was published in 1996. She mainly writes for young adults. Her books show more include Someone Like You, Just Listen, Along for the Ride, Keeping the Moon, Dreamland, What Happened to Goodbye, Saint Anything, and The Moon and More. She also teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Sarah Dessen at The New York Times Center on April 11, 2016
Works by Sarah Dessen
Associated Works
Twice Told: Original Stories Inspired by Original Artwork (2006) — Contributor — 121 copies, 4 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Dessen, Sarah
- Legal name
- Dessen, Sarah Elizabeth
- Birthdate
- 1970-06-06
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of North Carolina (BS|English)
- Occupations
- author
teacher - Awards and honors
- Margaret A. Edwards Award (2017)
- Agent
- Leigh Feldman
- Relationships
- Jay (husband), Sasha Clementine (daughter)
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Evanston, Illinois
- Places of residence
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Illinois, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
author: Sarah Dessen in Read YA Lit (January 2013)
Reviews
This is only the second time I was not feeling a Dessen book, and man this book had me rage screaming while hiking with my friend this weekend. At least I made her laugh when I was recounting some of the crap this book is full of. We have slut shaming, a boy that ignores what the heroine asks, ie (tries to force feed her cake at one point), underage drinking to the point I checked to make sure none of these fools was over the age of 21), no understanding of relationships, emotions, and oh show more can I say again, the slut-shaming?
What really shocks me is that this book came out after "Dreamland" which was so good and really got into teen physical abuse. I don't know what this book was trying to showcase. That assholes are people too? I don't know.
"This Lullaby" follows Remy. Remy is in the midst of dumping her boyfriend and trying to organize her mother's fifth wedding. The way that Dessen rights Remy you think she was a hard talking 20 something year old. But nope, she's 18 in this book. She and her friends have just graduated high school and Remy starts at Stanford in August. So she wants to get her mother married and be off with no worries about leaving anyone behind. Of course that all changes when she meets no boundaries at all Dexter. Dexter decides after seeing Remy at a car dealership that she's a challenge and he is going to wear her down so she will date him.
There is nothing at all charming about Dexter. For most of this book I found him insufferable. And Remy is just a straight up asshole towards him, her mother, her brother, her friends, and even the guys she dates. But I am supposed to someone get that Dexter found Remy and let her see that it's okay to be in love. Man I wish this book had been different.
Dexter is a musician in his 20s and he and his friends travel around doing odd jobs while trying to make it. I didn't see the charm in them and their whole deal. Heck, I was waiting for the moment I was supposed to care about any of them. All of the secondary characters in this one were sketched so thin it was unreal. As much as Remy talks about her friends, they felt like they were barely in this book.
Remy has rules about getting involved with a guy. Keep things distant, don't fall in love cause love isn't real, and just dump with no regrets. I definitely see why she was that way, but I think that Dessen tried to handwave away too many things that are revealed about Remy. And I hate that Remy and her friends considered her a slut for sleeping with so many guys. And oh cause she was hot, it's kind of understood that is just the way things happen? I don't know. The whole book was so odd and off-putting. I really just had it when Remy and her friends try to convince her she's in love with Dexter and that's just cause she never sleeps with him.
Banging head.
I was really happy to see the end of this book. show less
What really shocks me is that this book came out after "Dreamland" which was so good and really got into teen physical abuse. I don't know what this book was trying to showcase. That assholes are people too? I don't know.
"This Lullaby" follows Remy. Remy is in the midst of dumping her boyfriend and trying to organize her mother's fifth wedding. The way that Dessen rights Remy you think she was a hard talking 20 something year old. But nope, she's 18 in this book. She and her friends have just graduated high school and Remy starts at Stanford in August. So she wants to get her mother married and be off with no worries about leaving anyone behind. Of course that all changes when she meets no boundaries at all Dexter. Dexter decides after seeing Remy at a car dealership that she's a challenge and he is going to wear her down so she will date him.
There is nothing at all charming about Dexter. For most of this book I found him insufferable. And Remy is just a straight up asshole towards him, her mother, her brother, her friends, and even the guys she dates. But I am supposed to someone get that Dexter found Remy and let her see that it's okay to be in love. Man I wish this book had been different.
Dexter is a musician in his 20s and he and his friends travel around doing odd jobs while trying to make it. I didn't see the charm in them and their whole deal. Heck, I was waiting for the moment I was supposed to care about any of them. All of the secondary characters in this one were sketched so thin it was unreal. As much as Remy talks about her friends, they felt like they were barely in this book.
Remy has rules about getting involved with a guy. Keep things distant, don't fall in love cause love isn't real, and just dump with no regrets. I definitely see why she was that way, but I think that Dessen tried to handwave away too many things that are revealed about Remy. And I hate that Remy and her friends considered her a slut for sleeping with so many guys. And oh cause she was hot, it's kind of understood that is just the way things happen? I don't know. The whole book was so odd and off-putting. I really just had it when Remy and her friends try to convince her she's in love with Dexter and that's just cause she never sleeps with him.
Banging head.
I was really happy to see the end of this book. show less
You can't read YA and not have read at least one of Sarah Dessen's twelves (TWELVE!) novels. Her latest, Saint Anything, came out just a few weeks ago and rocketed to the top of the New York Times list, and it's clear why. This was a different direction for Dessen, a bit of a turn from her usually fluffy romantic writing and a chance for her to grapple with some darker edges of growing up.
Sydney has always lived in the shadow of her big brother Peyton, the charming young man who couldn't see show more his way out of trouble when he needed to. This eventually lands him in prison for drunk driving and injuring a 15-year old boy, paralyzing him. Still, even with Peyton out of the house, Sydney feels invisible. Her Mom is hyper-focused on making sure Peyton is taken care of (even though you know, he's being punished), and her Dad has no backbone when it comes to her Mom so he instead just goes on lots of work trips.
Due to the infamy that comes with being associated with a drunk driver, Sydney decided to switch out of her private school and into the local public where she can feel even more invisible and carry her guilt without the added benefit of everyone knowing why she feels that way. However, the world has other plans for Sydney when she becomes friends with Mac and Layla Chatham and ends up becoming a part of their little universe, willing or not.
What I loved about this novel, is that the romantic relationship between Mac and Sydney was not the main event. Rather the main event was Sydney. Just Sydney. Sydney and Layla's blossoming friendship and how that affected her friends from Perkin's Day, Sydney and her relationship with her mother who's intense need to protect and cater to Peyton has left her daughter in the background. Sydney and her journey in learning to speak up to those around her and say what she's really feeling. For much of the book, I was fighting against Sydney, wanting her to yell at her mom, to yell at Ames (her brother's creepy friend from rehab who won't leave even though Peyton has), to FIGHT for something. However, I realized that this was not Sydney's nature - Sydney's strength was in her quietness, in her ability to understand that it's not about her as frustrating as that might be.
If you follow Dessen on twitter (and you should), you will know that her journey to Sydney's story was a rather long one. She abandoned a novel before writing Saint Anything, and found herself in an unfamiliar place where she didn't have a story in mind. After taking a much needed break and some soul-searching she found her way to Sydney and the story she needed to tell - and I'm so glad she did. show less
Sydney has always lived in the shadow of her big brother Peyton, the charming young man who couldn't see show more his way out of trouble when he needed to. This eventually lands him in prison for drunk driving and injuring a 15-year old boy, paralyzing him. Still, even with Peyton out of the house, Sydney feels invisible. Her Mom is hyper-focused on making sure Peyton is taken care of (even though you know, he's being punished), and her Dad has no backbone when it comes to her Mom so he instead just goes on lots of work trips.
Due to the infamy that comes with being associated with a drunk driver, Sydney decided to switch out of her private school and into the local public where she can feel even more invisible and carry her guilt without the added benefit of everyone knowing why she feels that way. However, the world has other plans for Sydney when she becomes friends with Mac and Layla Chatham and ends up becoming a part of their little universe, willing or not.
What I loved about this novel, is that the romantic relationship between Mac and Sydney was not the main event. Rather the main event was Sydney. Just Sydney. Sydney and Layla's blossoming friendship and how that affected her friends from Perkin's Day, Sydney and her relationship with her mother who's intense need to protect and cater to Peyton has left her daughter in the background. Sydney and her journey in learning to speak up to those around her and say what she's really feeling. For much of the book, I was fighting against Sydney, wanting her to yell at her mom, to yell at Ames (her brother's creepy friend from rehab who won't leave even though Peyton has), to FIGHT for something. However, I realized that this was not Sydney's nature - Sydney's strength was in her quietness, in her ability to understand that it's not about her as frustrating as that might be.
If you follow Dessen on twitter (and you should), you will know that her journey to Sydney's story was a rather long one. She abandoned a novel before writing Saint Anything, and found herself in an unfamiliar place where she didn't have a story in mind. After taking a much needed break and some soul-searching she found her way to Sydney and the story she needed to tell - and I'm so glad she did. show less
New high school graduate Finley plans to attend university with Colin, her boyfriend of two years, but when he breaks up with her via phone call from a Disney cruise, Finley's life takes a strange turn. Even stranger, a planned New York trip with her mom turns into a visit "home" to a lakeside cabin where her mom grew up. Finley is almost seamlessly folded into the group of cousins and friends, even working at the busy breakfast spot, the Egg, and starting to flirt with guitar-playing Ben. show more In the town where her mom grew up, Finley begins to learn family history, and get to know her aunts, Kasey and Liz, and her engaged cousin Anne. She also learns why her mother has finally decided to return to sell the house, and start to have some honest conversations (Finley's mom left when she was four and she's only seen her a few weeks out of the year since then; she was raised by her dad and stepmom). A fun summer romance in which Finley starts to see herself as a person apart from Colin - even if that just means choosing one boy over another.
Quotes
"Around here, if people don't know something, they just make it up." (Lana to Finley, 66)
"Endings are hard. Especially when you're not used to them....Moving on is like a muscle. You have to build it up." (Ben to Finley, 174)
"My point is, everything changes. You have a choice: Make it hard or make it work." (Clark to Finley, 187)
"If it doesn't feel right, it isn't right....You trusted your instincts. That's the bravest thing you can do." (Liz to Anne, 280)
"...just because you want something doesn't make it happen." (Ben to Finley, 333) show less
Quotes
"Around here, if people don't know something, they just make it up." (Lana to Finley, 66)
"Endings are hard. Especially when you're not used to them....Moving on is like a muscle. You have to build it up." (Ben to Finley, 174)
"My point is, everything changes. You have a choice: Make it hard or make it work." (Clark to Finley, 187)
"If it doesn't feel right, it isn't right....You trusted your instincts. That's the bravest thing you can do." (Liz to Anne, 280)
"...just because you want something doesn't make it happen." (Ben to Finley, 333) show less
I love everything about Just Listen — the story, the characters, the writing. I had so many flashbacks of my teenage years as I read this novel. I felt like I knew the characters, maybe from my childhood or at the very least, I felt like I could reach out and touch them. I lived with them — their day-to-day drama, their secrets, their frustrations.
At first you think Annabel has everything and then her world comes crashing down only to have everything circle back around making the story show more feel complete.
I could relate to Annabel, not regarding her modeling career, but her avoidant behavior, how she was intimated by her friend Sophie, and how she hoped her troubles would just dissolve away only to have them haunt her until she finally speaks up. I’m grateful that I didn’t have Annabel’s traumatic experience.
Whitney’s issues with food threw me back into my high school years when I barely ate. My issue never got as bad at hers, landing her in the hospital for months followed by outpatient therapy. I do remember feeling as broken as Whitney and food became one of our enemies, temporarily, but something that was always on our minds.
I wanted a friend like Annabel’s friend Owen, someone to pick me up during my darkest moments in my adolescence. He has his own radio show on Sunday mornings and he plays techno and new age type of songs. I love his views of commercial music and fashion. I’m not sure if this is Sarah Dessen’s views of music and fashion or just something fictitious she created for the novel. Owen expressed his opinions so directly and I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I love Owen for his brutal honesty. We can all name at least a dozen teenage singers who fit that description. I get so angry when I hear of another talentless teenage singer who is worth $100 million all because they fit a mold and people blindly support them without thinking. I just don’t find these singers entertaining. Anybody can sound good if you add a ton of reverb and compression to their vocals and then run it through ProTools.
Mallory is Owen’s little sister who idolizes fashion, fashion models, and the latest popular artists. By the way, her personality is hysterical. Owen is constantly voicing his opinion of Mallory’s taste in fashion and music.
I went to school with so many label whores. You know the type. They’re in the shallow cliques who all think, act and dress alike in whatever the trend-of-the-week happens to be. If you’re not wearing a label, you’re a nobody, a loser. This scene with Owen and Mallory reminded me of a time when I sat in band class and the girl next to me criticized me for wearing generic labels while she wore her Alligator shirt and whatever those trendy shorts were at the time. I can picture them, but I’m drawing a blank on the name of them. Back then, I just played dumb and pretended that I just didn’t know where to buy those trendy clothes when in reality, my single-parent mother was dead-ass broke. It’s sort of funny how a harmless and entertaining novel like the one can bring back so many memories.
Annabel’s friend Sophie was intimidating and a bit scary, but I got the impression that Annabel wished she had those qualities. She wanted to stand up to Sophie, but found herself remaining silent and constantly following her lead until they had a falling out. Sarah Dessen describes Sophie’s social behavior very vividly:
Owen taught Annabel how to speak up for herself. At first it was by expressing her opinion of Owen’s taste in music on his radio show. Their disagreements about music were often humorous. I laughed when Annabel gave her honest opinion of a “Baby Bejesuses song” that she described as a song that was all touch-tones. Owen tried to claim that the song meant “The Baby Bejesuses are innovators of the genre.” Annabel replied, “Then they should be able to put together a song using more than a phone keypad.” Annabel had to endure songs with yodeling, Gregorian chants and faucets dripping. No joke.
Owen also taught Annabel how to be direct with her opinions and not use placeholders like interesting or thing. He told her they were “something you use when you don’t want to say something else.” Actually, there were several characters other than Annabel that experienced internal growth. Both of her sisters, Whitney and Kirsten changed in meaningful ways. I feel like I’ve been schooled in so many ways by Owen, Annabel, Whitney, and even Sophie, but they each had something different to teach.
Just Listen left me wanting more of the story and more of Sarah Dessen’s novels. She’s definitely an author I’ll be coming back to in the near future. show less
At first you think Annabel has everything and then her world comes crashing down only to have everything circle back around making the story show more feel complete.
I could relate to Annabel, not regarding her modeling career, but her avoidant behavior, how she was intimated by her friend Sophie, and how she hoped her troubles would just dissolve away only to have them haunt her until she finally speaks up. I’m grateful that I didn’t have Annabel’s traumatic experience.
Whitney’s issues with food threw me back into my high school years when I barely ate. My issue never got as bad at hers, landing her in the hospital for months followed by outpatient therapy. I do remember feeling as broken as Whitney and food became one of our enemies, temporarily, but something that was always on our minds.
I wanted a friend like Annabel’s friend Owen, someone to pick me up during my darkest moments in my adolescence. He has his own radio show on Sunday mornings and he plays techno and new age type of songs. I love his views of commercial music and fashion. I’m not sure if this is Sarah Dessen’s views of music and fashion or just something fictitious she created for the novel. Owen expressed his opinions so directly and I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“Bitsy Bonds isn’t a singer, Mallory. She’s a product. She’s fake. She has no soul; she doesn’t stand for anything.”
“I mean, you just have to keep in mind that my listeners are going to be confused. They’re still tuning in, and they expect quality. If possible, enlightenment. Not commercial, mass-produced crap sung by a teenager completely controlled by corporate marketing.”
I love Owen for his brutal honesty. We can all name at least a dozen teenage singers who fit that description. I get so angry when I hear of another talentless teenage singer who is worth $100 million all because they fit a mold and people blindly support them without thinking. I just don’t find these singers entertaining. Anybody can sound good if you add a ton of reverb and compression to their vocals and then run it through ProTools.
Mallory is Owen’s little sister who idolizes fashion, fashion models, and the latest popular artists. By the way, her personality is hysterical. Owen is constantly voicing his opinion of Mallory’s taste in fashion and music.
“’Mallory,’ Owen said, ‘don’t be a label whore.’”
I went to school with so many label whores. You know the type. They’re in the shallow cliques who all think, act and dress alike in whatever the trend-of-the-week happens to be. If you’re not wearing a label, you’re a nobody, a loser. This scene with Owen and Mallory reminded me of a time when I sat in band class and the girl next to me criticized me for wearing generic labels while she wore her Alligator shirt and whatever those trendy shorts were at the time. I can picture them, but I’m drawing a blank on the name of them. Back then, I just played dumb and pretended that I just didn’t know where to buy those trendy clothes when in reality, my single-parent mother was dead-ass broke. It’s sort of funny how a harmless and entertaining novel like the one can bring back so many memories.
Annabel’s friend Sophie was intimidating and a bit scary, but I got the impression that Annabel wished she had those qualities. She wanted to stand up to Sophie, but found herself remaining silent and constantly following her lead until they had a falling out. Sarah Dessen describes Sophie’s social behavior very vividly:
Sophie’s particular brand of fearlessness was perfect for navigating the cliques and various dramatics of middle school and high school. The bossy girls and whispered comments that had always unnerved me didn’t bother her at all, and I found it was much easier to cross the various social barriers once she’d already busted through them for me.”
Owen taught Annabel how to speak up for herself. At first it was by expressing her opinion of Owen’s taste in music on his radio show. Their disagreements about music were often humorous. I laughed when Annabel gave her honest opinion of a “Baby Bejesuses song” that she described as a song that was all touch-tones. Owen tried to claim that the song meant “The Baby Bejesuses are innovators of the genre.” Annabel replied, “Then they should be able to put together a song using more than a phone keypad.” Annabel had to endure songs with yodeling, Gregorian chants and faucets dripping. No joke.
Owen also taught Annabel how to be direct with her opinions and not use placeholders like interesting or thing. He told her they were “something you use when you don’t want to say something else.” Actually, there were several characters other than Annabel that experienced internal growth. Both of her sisters, Whitney and Kirsten changed in meaningful ways. I feel like I’ve been schooled in so many ways by Owen, Annabel, Whitney, and even Sophie, but they each had something different to teach.
Just Listen left me wanting more of the story and more of Sarah Dessen’s novels. She’s definitely an author I’ll be coming back to in the near future. show less
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