Sarah Dessen Books In Order

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. That Summer (1996)
  2. Someone Like You (1998)
  3. Keeping the Moon (1999)
  4. Dreamland (2000)
  5. This Lullaby (2002)
  6. The Truth About Forever (2004)
  7. Just Listen (2006)
  8. Lock and Key (2008)
  9. Along for the Ride (2009)
  10. What Happened to Goodbye (2011)
  11. The Moon and More (2013)
  12. Saint Anything (2015)
  13. Once and for All (2017)
  14. The Rest of the Story (2019)

Short Stories/Novellas In Publication Order

  1. Infinity (2010)

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Short Stories/Novellas Book Covers

Sarah Dessen Books Overview

That Summer

For fifteen year old Haven, life is changing too quickly. She’s nearly six feet tall, her father is getting remarried, and her sister&150the always perfect Ashley&150is planning a wedding of her own. Haven wishes things could just go back to the way they were. Then an old boyfriend of Ashley’s reenters the picture, and through him, Haven sees the past for what it really was, and comes to grips with the future.

Someone Like You

Quiet Halley and popular Scarlett have been friends for years, balancing each other perfectly until the summer of their 16th birthdays. Scarlett’s boyfriend is killed in a motorbike accident, just before she discovers she is carrying his baby. Now, for the first time, Scarlett really needs Halley at the same time as Halley needs her. Halley is caught up in the spell of first love, and the pressure to lose her virginity…
Each with their own problems, can this friendship survive the strain of support that both Halley and Scarlett expect from each other?

Keeping the Moon

Colie expects the worst when she’s sent to spend the summer with her eccentric aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always an outcast first for being fat and then for being ‘easy’ Colie has no friends at home and doesn’t expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a job at the Last Chance Caf and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all along.’Teens will want to cheer.’ School Library Journal, starred review’Dessen’s tale will leave readers thoughtful, amused, reassured, and sorry when it concludes.’ Kirkus Reviews, pointer review’A down to earth Cinderella story…
Captures that special feeling.’ The New York Post’Dessen is an absolutely wonderful writer stylish, smart, and funny.’ Booklist

Dreamland

When Caitlin first meets Rogerson Biscoe, he seems to be everything she wants him to be. He’s handsome, sensitive, and more than a bit mysterious. And before long, Rogerson has cast a spell over Caitlin. A spell that keeps her in a Dreamland from which she can’t seem to break free even when the dreams turn into nightmares. Beautifully crafted, with a vivid plot and sharply drawn characters, this is a powerful and intensely compelling story of a young girl struggling to break free of an abusive relationship. ‘Dreamland is the story of many contemporary teen relationships. Compelling reading.’ School Library Journal, starred review

This Lullaby

Remy always knows the perfect time to give a boyfriend ‘The Speech’ telling him it’s over after the initial romantic whirl, but before the reality of an actual relationship hits. Her friends tease that her boyfriend tally is nearing the triple digit mark, but she’s a girl who knows just how to avoid any messy emotional entanglement. After all, she’s had the example of her five times married mother to show her what not to do. So what, then, is it about Dexter that makes it so hard for her to follow her own rules? He’s everything she hates: messy, disorganized, much too vulnerable, impulsive, and worst of all, a musician like her father: the father Remy never knew, the father who wrote a famous song for her, the father who disappeared from her life. Sarah Dessen’s most captivating novel yet introduces readers to a girl who believes her heart is made of stone and the boy who proves her wrong.

The Truth About Forever

Macy’s summer stretches before her, carefully planned and outlined. She will spend her days sitting at the library information desk. She will spend her evenings studying for the SATs. Spare time will be used to help her obsessive mother prepare for the big opening of the townhouse section of her luxury development. But Macy’s plans don’t anticipate a surprising and chaotic job with Wish Catering, a motley crew of new friends, or…
Wes. Tattooed, artistic, anything but expected Wes. He doesn’t fit Macy’s life at all&150so why does she feel so comfortable with him? So…
happy? What is it about him that makes her let down her guard and finally talk about how much she misses her father, who died before her eyes the year before? Sarah Dessen delivers a page turning novel that carries readers on a roller coaster of denial, grief, comfort, and love as we watch a broken but resilient girl pick up the pieces of her life and fit them back together.

Just Listen

Last year, Annabel was ‘the girl who has everything’ at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf s Department Store. This year, she s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean but exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth telling. With Owen s help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends. In this multi layered, impossible to put down book, Sarah Dessen tells the story of a year in the life of a family coming to terms with the imperfections beneath its perfect facade.

Lock and Key

Ruby, where is your mother? Ruby knows that the game is up. For the past few months, she’s been on her own in the yellow house, managing somehow, knowing that her mother will probably never return. That s how she comes to live with Cora, the sister she hasn t seen in ten years, and Cora s husband Jamie, whose down to earth demeanor makes it hard for Ruby to believe he founded the most popular networking Web site around. A luxurious house, fancy private school, a new wardrobe, the promise of college and a future it s a dream come true. So why is Ruby such a reluctant Cinderella, wary and defensive? And why is Nate, the genial boy next door with some secrets of his own, unable to accept the help that Ruby is just learning to give? Best selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.

Along for the Ride

Ever since her parents began fighting, Auden has been unable to sleep at night. Now, spending a summer at a charming beach town with her father and his new family, she has to find new places to pass the time she spends awake. And so she meets Eli, a fellow insomniac who becomes her nighttime guide. Together, they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she has missed; for Eli, to come to terms with the death of a friend. In her trademark blockbuster style, Sarah Dessen creates a powerful and irresistible story of two people learning how to connect.

What Happened to Goodbye

Since her parents’ bitter divorce, Mclean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother’s new family, Mclean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, Mclean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself whoever that is. Perhaps her neighbor Dave, an academic superstar trying to be just a regular guy, can help her find out. Combining Sarah Dessen’s trademark graceful writing, great characters, and compelling storytelling, What Happened to Goodbye is irresistible reading.

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