Ever since I was a child, I loved to read. I would read books that should have been above my reading level because they were much more interesting. If it had chapters and well over 100 pages, I wanted to own it. In middle school, I began reading books that were categorized as YA--young adult--and I fell in love.

Perhaps my all time favorite young adult novel is This Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen. This is one of the very first books in the YA category and the very first book by Sarah that I read. Over the years, I have gone on to many similar novels by other authors, but none of them have reached a special place in my heart like This Lullaby has.

This Lullaby, like most of Sarah Dessen's novels, portrays issues that teenagers face in real life besides the basic romance story. Remy, the main character, is raised by a mother whose favorite hobby is basically divorce but is getting married once again. She is the realistic and reliable type of character who does not trust men. Her number one motto is "no musicians," specifically because her father was a musician that did not stay around--though he wrote her a song. Through this summer time journey, Remy learns to open up and take an adventure with the help of this guy named Dexter.

So maybe my parents are not divorced and my father is not a musician, but this novel really spoke to me. I am a sucker for anything with a bit of romance and drama. Sarah's writing made me feel as though I was actually a participant in the plot, not just the reader. For those of you who have read the novel, you would understand it when I say that I was actually saying "hate Spinnerbait."

After finishing This Lullaby, I was hooked and needed another novel to crave my addiction. Over the years, I have read almost every book Sarah has written. Each of them speaks out about issues young adults really face such as abandonment issues, abuse, cheating, separated parents, making new friends, and taking chances.

While many of the issues brought forth in the novels do not particularly pertain to aspects of my life, they definitely helped me grow. By reading these stories, I understood some of the feelings that people go through during certain situations, and sometimes life knocks us down but we have to get back up again, slowly but surely. For those of you who are looking to grow as you read, take a chance on Sarah Dessen; you will not regret it.

Sarah Dessen Novels:

Along For The Ride

Dreamland

Just Listen

Keeping The Moon

Lock & Key

Once And For All

Saint Anything

Someone Like You

That Summer

The Moon & More

The Truth About Forever

This Lullaby

What Happened To Goodbye