Sarah Dessen has 14 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 11 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 77 ratings. The most-rated is The Rest of the Story.
The Rest of the Story
Summary
From number-one New York Times best-selling author Sarah Dessen comes a big-hearted, sweeping novel about a girl who reconnects with a part of her family she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl - and falls in love, all over the course of a magical summer. Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was 12. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges. Now, it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable...until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family, whom she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl. When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working-class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is also divided into two people. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her. Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake - and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well. For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her - Emma or Saylor - will win out?
©2019 Sarah Dessen (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers
Once and for All
Summary
From Sarah Dessen, the beloved New York Times best-selling author of Saint Anything and Just Listen, comes a new novel set in the world of wedding planning! Is it really better to have loved and lost? Louna's summer job is to help brides plan their perfect days, even though she stopped believing in happily ever after when her first love ended tragically. But charming girl-magnet Ambrose isn't about to be discouraged now that he's met the one he really wants. Maybe Louna's second chance is standing right in front of her. Sarah Dessen's many fans will adore this latest novel, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story with humor, romance, and an ending that is so much more than happily ever after.
©2017 Sarah Dessen (P)2017 Listening Library
Lock and Key
Summary
Best-selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.
©2008 Sarah Dessen (P)2008 Penguin
This Lullaby
Summary
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.
©2009 Sarah Dessen (P)2009 Penguin
Along for the Ride
Summary
It's been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents' divorce - or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live. A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she's been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend. In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.
©2009 Sarah Dessen (P)2009 Penguin
Saint Anything
Summary
Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and - lately - concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident? Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time. The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her 12th novel, sure to delight her legions of fans.
©2015 Sarah Dessen (P)2015 Listening Library
What Happened to Goodbye
Summary
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.
©2011 Sarah Dessen (P)2011 Penguin Audio
The Truth About Forever
Summary
From the award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Rest of the Story comes a powerful novel about loss, love, and moving on. Nothing is going as planned for Macy this summer. Not the job at Wish Catering, and definitely not Wes. But Macy soon discovers that the things you expect least are sometimes the things you need most. "Dessen gracefully balances comedy with tragedy and introduces a complex heroine worth getting to know." (Publishers Weekly)
©2006 Sarah Dessen (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
Keeping the Moon
Summary
While her mother, aerobics queen Kiki Sparks, spends the summer touring Europe, 15-year-old Colie Sparks is stuck in sleepy Colby, North Carolina. But she's not complaining. For one thing, her Aunt Mira is a sweet, laid-back eccentric; for another, no one knows that back home in Charlotte Colie is seen as a formerly-fat "golf-course slut," the school scapegoat. Then, by fate or by accident, Colie lands a waitressing job, where she meets Morgan and Isabel. The two wisecracking--and wise--twentysomething waitresses help her turn her life around, and realize the potential that has been there all along. Sarah Dessen's newest novel is poignant, humorous, and full of characters to cherish--what readers are coming to expect from this extraordinary young talent.
©2004 Sarah Dessen (P)2009 Penguin
That Summer
Summary
The debut novel from the award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Rest of the Story! The more things change.... As far as Haven is concerned, there's just too much going on. Everything is changing, and she's not sure where she fits in. Her father is getting married to the local weather woman. Her sister, Ashley, is engaged to a man who's just...boring. And Haven, at 15, is nearly six feet tall and still growing. Then Ashley's old boyfriend shows up, sparking memories of the summer when they were all happy and everything was perfect.... Or was it? "Unforgettable." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
©2004 Sarah Dessen (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
Dreamland
Summary
"Wake up, Caitlin." My English teacher wasn't the only person who'd noticed."Caitlin!" the dance coach barked as I flubbed another cartwheel."Caitlin?" Rina, my best friend, asked. "Hello?" And finally, the one voice to which I snapped to attention, every time."Caitlin," Rogerson said, and I listened so hard, trying to tell just by the cadence what might happen when we were alone. What they don't understand is that Caitlin can't afford to leave this dreamland, this half-sleeping state where everything and everyone can be kept at arm's length. Because then she'd have to face the ugly truth about her relationship with Rogerson: magnetic, fascinating--and very dangerous--Rogerson. What is it about Rogerson Biscoe...and why can't she leave him? In her most challenging novel yet, acclaimed author Sarah Dessen guides readers through the harrowing netherworld of a young woman's shattered dreams to her profound awakening.
©2004 Sarah Dessen (P)2009 Penguin
The Moon and More
Summary
Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough. Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby. Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby? Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going? Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.
©2013 Sarah Dessen (P)2013 Penguin Audio
Just Listen
Summary
From the award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Rest of the Story comes a moving novel about the power of finding and speaking your truth. When she’s modeling, Annabel Greene is the picture of perfection - the girl who has everything. But her real life is far from perfect. Her best friend, Sophie, and she are no longer speaking; her older sister’s eating disorder is affecting everything at home. Then she meets Owen. He’s intense, music-obsessed, and dedicated to always telling the truth. And most of all, he’s determined to make Annabel happy.... “This is young adult fiction at its best.” (School Library Journal)
©2008 Sarah Dessen (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
Someone like You
Summary
A powerful coming-of-age novel about the power and peril of friendship and first loves, from the award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Rest of the Story. The world is a terrible place not to have a best friend. Scarlett was always the strong one, but now it’s Hailey’s turn. In the wake of Scarlett’s boyfriend's death and learning she’s pregnant, Scarlett needs a friend more than ever. Because true friendship is a promise you keep forever. “Dessen has written a powerful, polished story.” (School Library Journal, starred review)
©2004 Sarah Dessen (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers