What I’m appreciating: Sarah Dessen
It’s not news that someone would like Sarah Dessen. After all, she’s a bestselling author. I think, though, that it might be news that a guy whose tastes run more toward science fiction and fantasy enjoys her stories of young female protagonists dealing with families, boyfriends, and the assorted trials of high school.
But here’s what I’ve decided I like about the three Dessen titles I’ve read (Dreamland, Along for the Ride, and Whatever Happened to Goodbye), and why I would recommend them to anyone who’s looking for a good read.
Her books are well written, of course. Not in the sense of having a flashy prose style, but in the sense that even the most ordinary settings and situations become fascinating when carefully observed and carefully described. I consider an ability to fascinate the reader with real life one of the hallmarks of good writing, and Dessen does this routinely. And whether or not a line of dialogue or detail of behavior serves the plot in any obvious way, I never stop feeling as if I’m overhearing a real conversation or furtively observing strangers—real, tangible lives that excite my curiosity simply because they belong to real people.
In addition, I like the lives Dessen opens up for me. Again, no news there: nobody wants to read about a protagonist they don’t like, or can’t at least admire in some way. But Dessen’s protagonists are always smart enough to be self-aware, self-aware enough to resist judging the people who challenge them, and charitable enough to respond to their challenges with ironic humor. When these virtues fail, I feel the failure as deeply as the characters, and the threat of failure—essentially, the threat that these protagonists might not arrive at adulthood intact—keeps me reading.
Finally, as someone who has read his share of stories of orphans and other rootless young adventurers, I admire Dessen’s insistence on including her protagonists’ families as a source of strength and a source of conflict. Whatever age you are, family never stops being a part of your story: if at some point it stops being the most important part, that’s a story in itself. And a crucial one, which Dessen lays out with great skill and great care.
