Synopses & Reviews
The world is a terrible place not to have a best friend.
Scarlett was always the strong one.
Halley was always content to follow in her wake.
Then Scarletts boyfriend died, and Scarlett learned that she was pregnant.
Now Halley has to find the strength to take the lead and help Scarlett get through it.
Because true friendship is a promise you keep forever.
* Dessen has written a powerful, polished story.”School Library Journal, starred review
Also by Sarah Dessen:
Along for the Ride
Dreamland
Just Listen
Keeping the Moon
Lock and Key
The Moon and More
That Summer
This Lullaby
The Truth About Forever
What Happened to Goodbye
Review
"Nolan presents a sensitive look at the difficulties of teen pregnancy. . .Drawing in both reluctant and avid readers, this novel is an uplifting page-turner with a great deal of heart."--
School Library Journal,and#160;starred review and#160; "Readers will love Eleanor's openness and admire her strength in dealing with hard choices and unexpected disasters."--
Publishers Weekly and#160; "As revealed in her first-person narration, Elly is passionate, smart-mouthed, rebellious and completely endearing. Secondary characters are similarly well-crafted, refusing to fit into stereotypes. Readers may feel like laughing, crying and grinding their teeth in frustration, but they will always feel like they are in the experienced hands of a master storyteller."--
Kirkus Reviews, starred review and#160; "National Book Award finalist Nolan has written a multilayered character study of Elly, a young woman angry at the adults in her life but enormously resourceful and capable of love. The issues she facesand#8212;teen pregnancy, immature boyfriends, bewildered and angry parents, whether to keep the baby, and even the problems of overweight campersand#8212;all have their origins in grief and control. How Elly plows through this complex morass both before and after the baby arrives makes for not only a strong story but a subtle object lesson as well."--
Booklist and#160;
"The combination of camp story and problem novel give the book high appeal, and the characters are complex and sympathetic, particularly Elly as she works through her issues and grapples believably with the forced onset of adulthood."-Bulletin
Synopsis
Halley and Scarlett have been best friends for years, sharing secrets, clothes, and crushes. People know Scarlett as the popular, flamboyant one; Halley?s just her quiet sidekick. Then, at the beginning of their junior year, the balance shifts. First, Scarlett?s boyfriend Michael is killed in a freak accident; soon afterward, she learns that she is carrying his baby. She needs Halley now. But even as Halley does her best, she?s dealing with her own pressures?resisting her controlling mother, and dealing with her first serious relationship. Sarah Dessen?s unique voice is funny, poignant, and true, with a warm Southern accent that makes Halley?s story instantly appealing to teenaged girls and adult readers alike. Sarah Dessen lives in Durham, North Carolina.
Synopsis
The world is a terrible place not to have a best friend.
Scarlett was always the strong one.
Halley was always content to follow in her wake.
Then Scarlett's boyfriend died, and Scarlett learned that she was pregnant.
Now Halley has to find the strength to take the lead and help Scarlett get through it.
Because true friendship is a promise you keep forever.
* "Dessen has written a powerful, polished story."--School Library Journal, starred review
Also by Sarah Dessen:
Along for the Ride
Dreamland
Just Listen
Keeping the Moon
Lock and Key
The Moon and More
That Summer
This Lullaby
The Truth About Forever
What Happened to Goodbye
Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Eleanor Crowe has a mind of her own and no one is going to tell her what to do. But when she finds herself pregnant, she realizes that her options are limited: go to Kenya with her missionary parents or marry Lam, the babys father, and live with his parents at their summer camp for overweight children.
Despite her initial reluctance to help out, Elly is surprised to discover that she actually enjoys working with the kids at campif not for her mother-in-laws constant disapproval. When her baby is born, unexpected emotions and situations spin out of control, and Elly has to call on her stubbornness and determination to step up and become an advocate for her futureand for the life she has created.
Synopsis
A thought-provoking and courageous new novel by National Book Award winner Han Nolan. Nobody gets away with telling Eleanor Crowe what to do. But as a pregnant sixteenyear-old, her options are limited: move to Kenya with her missionary parents or marry the babyand#8217;s father and work at his familyand#8217;s summer camp for overweight kids. Despite her initial reluctance to help out, Elly is surprised that she actually enjoys working with the campers. But a tragedy on the very day her baby is born starts a series of events that overwhelms Elly with unexpected emotions and difficult choices. Somehow, she must turn her usual obstinance in a direction that can ensure a future for herselfand#8212;and for the new life she has created.
About the Author
"I was born in 1970 in Illinois, but all the life I remember Ive spent in Chapel Hill, NC. My parents were both professors at the University of North Carolina: my mom is a classicist (which means she knows everything you could ever imagine about myths, Latin, and words) and my dad teaches Shakespeare (which means Id seen
As You Like It about five times by the age of 18.) I have one brother, who is a musician and lives in California with his son and his wife, an artist who designed my personal website. (Thanks, Mariangeles!)
"Ive been writing, in one way or another, for as long as I can remember. I was always a big reader, mostly because my parents were. I used to get frustrated with my mom because she bought me books for Christmas when what I really wanted were the gifts my friends got, things like sweaters and jewelry. But I did love to read. When I was eight or nine my parents gave me an old manual typewriter and a little desk in the corner of our den, and Id sit there and type up my stories. I was the kind of kid that people always sighed over and said, "She has such a wild imagination," which usually meant "I wish Sarah would try to stick to the truth." I have a tendency to embellish: I think its just a weakness of fiction writers. Once you learn how to make a story better, its hard not to do it all the time.
"In high school, I was lucky enough to have a big group of girlfriends that have really inspired a lot of the stories in my books. Im still close with my friends from that time, so its never very hard to put myself back into that place, that voice. Also it doesnt hurt to still be living in my hometown, where its a given that Ill bump into people I had homeroom with, or guys I had big crushes on, while Im pumping gas or buying stamps. It makes it hard to leave high school behind entirely, which is a good or bad thing depending on what day you ask me. I attended college at UNC, where I studied creative writing and graduated with a degree in English. (Which means I can quote small parts of many Great Works. Comes in handy occasionally, like at cocktail parties.) Id been on the five-and-a-half year college plan, and when I graduated my parents were hoping Id settle down and get a Real Job so they could stop worrying about me. But instead of doing the whole resume/pantyhose thing, I decided to stick to my job waiting tables at the world famous Flying Burrito Restaurant and try to publish a novel. At the time, I had only one very bad book Id written my senior year of college and the beginnings of another one. Luckily, my family was supportive and I spent a few years living in a ramshackle little house where I wrote during the day and did the restaurant thing at night.
"Three years after graduating, I sold my first book, That Summer, but it wasnt until a year after that that I got offered a teaching job and left waitressing for good. I still miss it sometimes, though. It was a great job for a writer. Endless conversations to eavesdrop, tons of material, and fast money without ever taking work home. Plus, free Mexican food, the best perk of all. Now, Ive published four books, all for young adults. I never really intended to be YA writer, but the second book I showed my agent she thought had a strong teenage voice, so she sent it off to an editor at Orchard Books, who bought it. Even though it was in a way accidental, Ive found that writing for teens suits me. I do short stories, and other novels, that are for an older audience, but again and again I am brought back to the stories of high school. Maybe its because so much happened to me then that Im not finished yet telling everything. My senior quote was from Pink Floyd (okay, I was a bit of a burnout---I spent a lot of time in the parking lot, whatever, lets move on) and it pretty much summed up my future, although I didnt know it at the time. It was: "The time is gone, the song is over, thought Id something more to say." It turns out that I did.
"The books I read when I was teenager, the good ones anyway, have stuck more in my mind than anything since. I still love books, but while I couldnt tell you complete plots of novels I read even six months ago, I do remember even the smallest descriptive details from Lois Lowrys A Summer to Die or Judy Blumes Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret. I think it was because back then books were still somewhat new to me, and when I found an author who seemed to say just what I was feeling, it really struck me and resonated. I hope that my books do that for the people who read them: I think its the best thing to which any writer can aspire. Now, I teach writing at UNC-Chapel Hill, where Im lucky enough to see my students find their own voice, the way I did in the same program there not so long ago. Teaching is great for me, because I get to show people how writing can really change the way you see not only yourself but the world. Ive found in my own life that if my writing isnt going well, not much else will. It is the one constant, the key to everything else.
"As far as my other life, my non-writing life, I live in the country with my husband, some lizards, and two dogs who are completely spoiled and rule me completely. I like to work in my garden---although I have not yet perfected the art of keeping everything alive----and, in my weaker moments, shop. I have a bit of an addiction to the Gap clearance rack, to be honest. I have this strange need to buy huge quantities of black pants. How many pairs of black pants does one person need? (Obviously for me, the answer is 11 and counting. But I digress.) What else can I tell you? I love Starbucks mochas but they make me way hyper. I subscribe to too many magazines. I make a mean bean salad. I could go on, but the truth is, my books are much more exciting than I am, and thats a good thing. Its always more fun to make stuff up anyway."