Sarah Dessen From Burritos to Box Office

A criticism of the writing of Sarah Dessen, a writer whose fiction for adolescents features strong female protagonists and the relationships they develop, and how those relationships help to determine who one is and what one becomes. Dessen's novels explore the complexity of human relationships between and among characters, undermines gender expectations, develops the themes of self-perception and identity, creates eccentric and memorable secondary characters, and uses humor to help readers bear the angst of teenage life.

Wendy J. Glenn is assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.