Sarah Dessen Books

Colie Sparks is formerly fat, having gone through a recent transition leaving her 45 pounds lighter but still burdened by the problems most girls, even those who are overweight, commonly face. Colie, however, having lost the protective weight of those 45 pounds, is left with no way to deal with the aftermath of becoming thin and having to put up a whole different kind of insult. After an innocent meeting with a boy is labeled something else, Colie -- if no longer fat -- is now a slut instead. After years of curling up on herself inside her weight she becomes her school's pariah, suffering through without friends, her only acquaintances more likely to hurl insults at her than anything else.

This all begins to change when she goes to the beach for the summer, staying with her overweight and eccentric aunt who doesn't appear to care that she's ostracized from her own community. With her summer come three friends: Norman, an art student forced to live with Mira when his father doesn't want him, and Morgan and Isabel, two waitresses with problems of their own. Between them all Colie begins to realize her own self-worth, so much more than being skin deep.

The old lessons on self-esteem and beauty seem to go a lot further in this book, carried on by the bright and interesting characters, with Mira standing in as an explanation that Colie never had to be thin to be happy or surrounded by friends. A very heartwarming read.

Before I read this book, I lent it to a friend with a similar taste in books. She returned it after attempting to read it many times with the reason that it bored her. When i read the book, it did seem to drag on at some parts, but it is a very good story that shows one teenagers change in appearance and attitude.

The book Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen is a great book. It is about a girl named Collie. Collie used to be big, but then she got skinny because her mom got a new lifestyle and her mom got a new job in a fitness place. The book starts with her going to live with her Aunt Maria for the summer while her mom is on her worldwide fitness tour. Two weeks later she gets a job in a restaurant named "Last Chance, Bar and Grill" where she meets her two best friends, Morgan and Isabel. They help her change her reputation and image to a better one.
This book is for teenage girls who like books that have a cause and effect meaning to their books. This book has average problems that girls go through in their teenage years. In conclusion, the book Keeping the Moon is a great book that is meant for teenager girls.

At 15, Colie Sparks is angry at the world. Recently having become slim -- largely due to the efforts of her world-famous fitness guru mom -- Colie still doesn't believe she's physically attractive. How can she, when the girls at school are constantly bullying her, spreading lies about her promiscuity and laughing in her face?

When Colie's mom leaves her at her aunt Mira's for the summer, Colie's half angry at being left and half glad at a chance to reinvent herself. Within days, she's got a waitressing job with her aunt's young boarder Norman and two neighbors, Morgan and Isabel. Whenever she's around the three, Colie finds herself unexpectedly doing and learning new things.

It isn't easy, though -- Colie is painfully aware of the small town's mocking her overweight, eccentric aunt, even though Mira doesn't seem to know or care. She's also dealing with countless demons from her past.

Yet with the support of her new friends, Colie's determined to make a new future for herself.

Despite the potential to lapse into happily-ever-after land, Dessen does a great job creating quirky, realistic characters who strive for happiness, but in no way get sappy or unrelatable.

Sarah Dessen is one of the best authors out there today. Her books aren't just fluff and a waste of time to read, like so many of the fiction books published today. No, her books actually leave an impression on you. They stay with you, you feel for the characters, and you long for the book to never end. They are also incredibly inspirational, like this one, Keeping the Moon.

Nicole "Colie" Sparks and her mother had always been fat. They traveled around the country, living off of minimum wages and junk food. Colie was always uncomfortable about her weight, as kids in schools made fun of her constantly, forcing her to hide behind her fat and have a low self confidence. But then, her mother lost all of her weight and became Kiki Sparks, a fitness trainer and a weight loss inspirationist. Then, Colie began losing the weight, too.

One summer, Colie's mother has a tour of Europe planned, and sends Colie off to live with her eccentric Aunt Mira in Colby, North Carolina. It is the last place she wants to go. But Colby turns out to be something completely different from what she expected. She meets best friends Isabel and Morgan, who love to hang out and have a good time. She meets Norman, the sweetest guy she Colie has ever known, the guy who could prove to be even more than a friend. But most importantly, she meets herself, he true self, the self that was always there but was just hiding all along.

Once again, Dessen has created a wonderful story, filled with perfectly flawed characters, and story that shows you can always find yourself, even if you're in hiding.

Hindsight isn't always 20/20, especially when you don't have all the facts. That's Haven's problem in That Summer. Life for Haven isn't exactly easy, but more to the point she's going through more than enough changes. She keeps growing, her sister is getting married, her father is remarrying, leaving her confused in a turbulent summer nothing like the ones before.

Then enters Sumner, the guy that made life so great. Sumner and her sister seemed to have it all, and all seemed brighter with Sumner in their lives. Ashley and Haven got along great, her parents were still together...everything was perfect. So unlike what she's having to put up with now.

The thing about this story is the way everything can seem so black and white sometimes, even when it's always a varying shade of gray. I understand how upset Haven is, as I couldn't begin to understand that sort of stress, but her expectations she places on Sumner -- Ashley's old boyfriend -- are unrealistic. What does she want him to do, exactly? I have a feeling Haven wouldn't know the answer to that question, which is probably the point.

The end of this story speeds up unexpectedly, slamming the door shut on a relatively quiet book. It's definitely a first novel, with weaknesses abound, but there are significant points in the narrative, mostly between Haven and her family, that tell of future strengths. Sarah Dessen only gets better from here.

I haven't read the book or seen the movie. All I know is that the soundtrack to the movie version of this amazing and worth looking for. It's always made me look for the movie. If the book is anything like the soundtrack it's gotta be great. A good introduction to New Wave from the late 70's. Here's the track listing. As far as I know it's never been released on CD.

A1 Ian Dury - Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
A2 Mink DeVille - Spanish Stroll
A3 Elvis Costello - (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
A4 The Boomtown Rats - She's So Modern
A5 The Zones - New Life
A6 The Only Ones - Another Girl, Anther Planet
A7 Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World
A8 Patti Smith - Because the Night
B1 The Boomtown Rats - Kicks
B2 Ramones - Rockaway Beach
B3 The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
B4 Eddie and the Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do
B5 Ian Dury - What a Waste
B6 Nick Lowe - I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass
B7 Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
B8 Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Blank Generation

I'm not gonna say I didn't like it because it was an enjoyable read but not much going on. From pretty much the start you know what happens and it pretty much just follows Haven's life. I've read many of Dessen's books and she can write alot better than she did in this book!

Fifteen year old Haven's life is changing fast. She's growing taller every day, her father is getting remarried and her sister, Ashley, is planning a wedding of her own to a guy whom Haven finds extremely boring and unlike any of her sister's previous lovers. When Haven sees Ashley's ex-boyfriend while at dinner with her father one night, she feels like some things are normal again. But was Sumner really the victim when Ashley broke up with him? Or was there something more to the story?

To be honest, I found this book to be my least favorite book by Sarah Dessen. However, it's still an amazing book, especially since it's her debut novel. In That Summer by Sarah Dessen, Haven is changing rapidly and learning a lot about herself and her family. When her sister's ex-boyfriend, Sumner, comes back into town, she's excited. He was the only boyfriend who paid any attention to Haven at all and he had brought excitement to the family when he and Ashley were together. I loved how this book portrays the way girls look up to boys in a non-romance way, only to be let down when they don't understand the whole story. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of Sarah's work or wants to enjoy a light but meaningful teen book.

It was kind of boring.
I wish there had been some romance in there.
But overall, it was okay

Hindsight isn't always 20/20, especially when you don't have all the facts. That's Haven's problem in That Summer. Life for Haven isn't exactly easy, but more to the point she's going through more than enough changes. She keeps growing, her sister is getting married, her father is remarrying, leaving her confused in a turbulent summer nothing like the ones before.

Then enters Sumner, the guy that made life so great. Sumner and her sister seemed to have it all, and all seemed brighter with Sumner in their lives. Ashley and Haven got along great, her parents were still together...everything was perfect. So unlike what she's having to put up with now.

The thing about this story is the way everything can seem so black and white sometimes, even when it's always a varying shade of gray. I understand how upset Haven is, as I couldn't begin to understand that sort of stress, but her expectations she places on Sumner -- Ashley's old boyfriend -- are unrealistic. What does she want him to do, exactly? I have a feeling Haven wouldn't know the answer to that question, which is probably the point.

The end of this story speeds up unexpectedly, slamming the door shut on a relatively quiet book. It's definitely a first novel, with weaknesses abound, but there are significant points in the narrative, mostly between Haven and her family, that tell of future strengths. Sarah Dessen only gets better from here.

I haven't read the book or seen the movie. All I know is that the soundtrack to the movie version of this amazing and worth looking for. It's always made me look for the movie. If the book is anything like the soundtrack it's gotta be great. A good introduction to New Wave from the late 70's. Here's the track listing. As far as I know it's never been released on CD.

A1 Ian Dury - Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
A2 Mink DeVille - Spanish Stroll
A3 Elvis Costello - (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
A4 The Boomtown Rats - She's So Modern
A5 The Zones - New Life
A6 The Only Ones - Another Girl, Anther Planet
A7 Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World
A8 Patti Smith - Because the Night
B1 The Boomtown Rats - Kicks
B2 Ramones - Rockaway Beach
B3 The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
B4 Eddie and the Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do
B5 Ian Dury - What a Waste
B6 Nick Lowe - I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass
B7 Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
B8 Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Blank Generation

I'm not gonna say I didn't like it because it was an enjoyable read but not much going on. From pretty much the start you know what happens and it pretty much just follows Haven's life. I've read many of Dessen's books and she can write alot better than she did in this book!

Fifteen year old Haven's life is changing fast. She's growing taller every day, her father is getting remarried and her sister, Ashley, is planning a wedding of her own to a guy whom Haven finds extremely boring and unlike any of her sister's previous lovers. When Haven sees Ashley's ex-boyfriend while at dinner with her father one night, she feels like some things are normal again. But was Sumner really the victim when Ashley broke up with him? Or was there something more to the story?

To be honest, I found this book to be my least favorite book by Sarah Dessen. However, it's still an amazing book, especially since it's her debut novel. In That Summer by Sarah Dessen, Haven is changing rapidly and learning a lot about herself and her family. When her sister's ex-boyfriend, Sumner, comes back into town, she's excited. He was the only boyfriend who paid any attention to Haven at all and he had brought excitement to the family when he and Ashley were together. I loved how this book portrays the way girls look up to boys in a non-romance way, only to be let down when they don't understand the whole story. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of Sarah's work or wants to enjoy a light but meaningful teen book.

It was kind of boring.
I wish there had been some romance in there.
But overall, it was okay

i really enjoyed this story. the characters seemed so real. it was very enjoyable. i would recomend it for those who want a little bit of every genre. the romance is powerful, but not too much. it was a fantastic read. i rarely enjoy book endings, but this one closed perfectly. once again it was amazing.

Wow, is one word to describe Sarah's new book! I loved it and couldn't put it down! Ruby's story was so real and I couldn't help but picture Nate! This book is highly recommended by me and others so you should definetely add this book to your library for a great read! I am looking forward for more books of hers to come!

I loved this story overall. It had really good traits, and aspects, and the main idea behind it was rather enjoyable, as are all of Dessen's plots. I'd definitely recommend this to others.

My only problem with this story, as well as a couple of her other novels, is how sexually promiscuous the main characters always seem to be =/. Or, at the very least...how..well, not 'loose' but ...the manner in which many of the female characters in her novels don't hold any morality (or, for some, dont' really care at all about it) as far as having sex at such a young age goes.

It'd be nice if such were otherwise - considering how quickly morality in today's society is disappearing. Girls, especially 'young adult' females reading novels today, need something to look up to other than a lack of modesty. That's my only issue with this novel.

I'll admit, however, Dessen's ability to present sexual scenes (not kissing or loving scenes, but... scenes with actual sex being hinted at) without being at all graphic is quite relieving. And I commend her for such. That's another reason why her stories are so enjoyable - things like that don't obstruct the reader's path towards the story's main idea. Once more, I liked this story, and think it deserves 4 stars, at the very least.

Dysfunctional familes reach an all-time high is this latest novel, along with another I'm thinking of Michelle Kane's CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL. Feeling like you are one in the same family is Dessen's appeal. Read this book and feel not-so-alone.Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl

Dessen has done it again! I loved this book, never wanting to put it down. It's about Ruby who lived with her mom in a yellow farmhouse when one day Ruby's mom just never comes back. Sort of "runs away". Ruby stays there, not telling anyone that her moms gone, waiting out the months until she turns 18. But then the landlords bust her and she is sent to live with her sister, Cora, who left her and her mother when she went to college. It pretty much centers around Nate, her neighbor and her realtionship with Cora. I loved it! It really was sad seeing how mislead everyone was. I also loved how Rogerson was included in the book and Kiki Sparks! I love how Dessen does that. I haven't read all of Dessen's books but out of the ones I have read this is my favorite!