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Sara Zarr's Story of a Girl (review here) was one of my favorite Young Adult novels of 2007. Now Zarr is back with her second book, Sweethearts (out February 1), and it is even better than her first.

Now that we're working with a second novel, we can talk about what's so wonderful about Zarr's writing: straightforward prose, emotional honesty, and fully drawn characters make Zarr's Young Adult novels stand out from the pack.

Sweethearts begins with the following premise: What if your childhood best friend--in fact, your only friend--disappears without saying goodbye. Shortly thereafter you hear a rumor at school that he--Cameron Quick--has died, a rumor your own mother confirms. Jennifer Harris suffers from her best friend's disappearance so much that by high school she has turned herself into an entirely different person.

True, other changes in Jennifer's life have contributed to her metamorphosis. She acquires a kind stepfather named Alan, switches schools, and gets her eating habits under control. In addition, her mother--who was so busy finishing nursing school and working at a diner when Jennifer was in elementary school--is now gainfully employed in a professional career and working semi-regular hours. Life is good for the now teenage Jenna. She's updated her name, is popular and thin, and even has a cute boyfriend.

And then Cameron Quick walks back into her life.

Cameron's reappearance causes Jenna to reexamine her current life and her past. Are her new friends as real and true as Cameron was? Do they accept her for who she really is? Why did Cameron leave and why is he back? Does he remember what happened with his father on Jenna's 9th birthday?

Sweethearts is about confronting your past and learning from it. Jenna, Cameron, Jenna's mother and stepfather, and some of Jenna's new friends are complex characters who make difficult and honest decisions. Sweethearts isn't a novel that operates on YA cliches--you won't know ahead of time how Jenna will come to terms with her past, present, and future. You won't be able to guess how her friends will behave and react to Jenna's situation. Even Jenna's parents are drawn with a finely-tipped brush, acting as people, not stereotypes, do.

Sweethearts is Young Adult fiction at its very best. Zarr has crafted an original and compelling story enhanced by unflinching emotional honesty and characters worth your time and care.

Don't miss Sweethearts.
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Other blog reviews:

The Page Flipper
Bildungsroman
Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Well-Read Child
Young Adult (&Kids) Book Central
Bookshop Girl
Kate Messner
Charlotte's Library
Teen Book Review
Bookami
A Patchwork of Books
Kids Lit
Booktopia

If I've missed your review, please let me know.
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Sara's on a blog tour at the moment and will stop by here next week. I'll have a roundup of the interviews for you at that time.

Funny things happen sometimes.  A few weeks ago, I received an email asking if I'd like to review Sara Zarr's new book SWEETHEARTS.  Sure!  I loved STORY OF A GIRL, and well, there's the whole pink cookie on the cover thing.  I loved the book and jumped at the chance to host a stop on Sara's blog tour.  We emailed back and forth a few times but needed to wrap things up before last weekend because Sara and I were both going to be traveling.  When all was said and done, I sent Sara a link to my blog so she'd be able to see today's interview.  She emailed back.  Turns out we were headed out of town for the same writing retreat, so we could have done the interview in person.  I got to spend a little time with Sara at the retreat, and she's just the kind, funny, down-to-earth person I had imagined.  I love it when that happens. 

I teach 7th grade English Language Arts, and I was reading SWEETHEARTS during independent reading time with my kids one day.  One of my students stopped by my desk at the end of the period.  "Are you going to finish that today?  And can I borrow it?"  Becky devoured the book in a couple days and was excited to hear that Sara would be stopping by my blog.  She handed me a list of questions the next day, so this interview is our joint effort!

Welcome, Sara!  First, let’s talk about the new book.  What was the inspiration for this story, the spark that made you want to write about Jenna and Cameron?

I knew this boy in grade school, Mark. Like Cameron, he left a ring and a note in my lunch one day, and I remember sitting in the back of my friend’s mom’s car and discovering it and thinking, wow, there’s this person who likes me and thinks about me. Our relationship wasn’t like Cameron and Jenna’s, but for me it was like I carried around this secret---that someone cared about me and was on my side, and that meant a lot and stayed with me my whole life. Mark got back in touch when we were adults, and I started playing around with the “what if we’d known each other in high school?” question. The story went from there.


Often, authors will say that characters are made up of bits and pieces of people they know or people they’ve been.  Where did Jenna and Cameron come from?

Cameron was definitely inspired by Mark, though the details about his life and his family are a total fabrication. I didn’t know him between the ages of 8 and 30, so I had to imagine him as a teenager. Jennifer, before she became Jenna, draws some on my own life. I stole and used food the way she does, and I was one of the “poor kids” who always wore hand-me-downs and got the subsidized milk, though I was not as much of an outsider as Jennifer. Jenna as a teen is a lot different than I was; I do relate to her fear of being found out for who she really is, but I think everyone feels that deep down to some extent.


SWEETHEARTS seems like a perfect title for this book.  Did you know while you were writing what the title would be, or did you play around with different titles along the way? (And if you did, would you share some of them?)

The title actually came early on and I never had any other ideas. I remember emailing my agent and asking, “What do you think of SWEETHEARTS as a title?” He was lukewarm at first (he may deny it now, but I have the email evidence!). I always thought it was perfect, myself. I’ve never had a title come so easily.


I can’t imagine anyone has looked at SWEETHEARTS without commenting on the cover (and getting hungry!).  Is that what you envisioned for a cover when you wrote the book, or were you surprised?

I was completely surprised. I didn’t have any idea what to expect---I’m terrible with design stuff. When I first saw it, I thought it was so literal…a sweet heart. The more I looked at it---the bite out of the cookie, the crumbs, the starkness of the background and the childlike font of the title---the more I appreciated the genius of designer Alison Impey. It’s actually kind of a masterpiece!


Becky wants to know if there’s going to be another story about Jenna and Cameron (and when Molly finishes, she’s going to want to know, too).  Any plans for a sequel, or do you feel like their journey is over for now?

I have no plans for a sequel, though I’m always delighted when readers ask that question because it means the characters live on in their minds. People have also asked for a sequel to my first book, so maybe I should figure out a way for Deanna, Jenna, Cameron, Jason and Tommy to all meet up in some epic vampire fantasy…


Writers often talk about the pressure of a second book and wanting it to be better than the first.  Since your first novel, STORY OF A GIRL, was a National Book Award Finalist, do you feel like that created extra pressure for you?

Absolutely. Thankfully, SWEETHEARTS was done well ahead of the National Book Award stuff, but even before that I was suffering from a major case of Second Book Psychosis. It really wasn’t based in reality, just a crazy mental battle. Honestly, there was one day that involved me curled in a ball on the kitchen floor, crying and praying and figuring out how to break the news to my agent that everyone would soon discover that I was a total fraud.

Were there any parts of writing SWEETHEARTS that were a real struggle for you?

As you can imagine, it was hard to write the scenes in Cameron’s childhood home, with his dad. It made me sick to my stomach, literally. And I’ve read books in which so much worse happens to the characters…I don’t know how those authors do it. It was hard to balance making the situation menacing enough to be scarring, but still get them out before anything worse happened.


You recently sold your next two novels.  What can you tell us about those?

Not much! All I can say right now about the one I’m working on is that it involves a pastor’s daughter. I grew up in church and have always wanted to explore church life more directly in a novel. It’s too soon to talk about much else.


When and where do you most often like to write?

Whenever and wherever. My work habits aren’t anything to brag about--it’s always a struggle to get going. Every day I’m afraid. Every day I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. So I avoid it. Time and location don’t matter to me much, as long as I do the work.


Do you have a favorite revision strategy?

Get editorial letter. Cry. Rage. Cry. Complain. Freak out. Wonder how I’ve fooled so many for so long. Cry some more. When that stage is over, I like to have a printout of the manuscript and start a new Word document rather than edit on screen and cut and paste. Even if I end up typing the same pages over and over, there’s something about the physical act of typing that helps.


And last but not least... In honor of that delicious cover, what’s your favorite kind of cookie?

A big, soft, homemade chocolate chip cookie with no nuts.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Sara! 

SWEETHEARTS has an official February 1st release date but has already started showing up in bookstores.  Just look for that pink cookie on the cover.

Young Adult Pick of the Week:

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English

Nine year olds Jennifer and Cameron are the outcasts at their school. Jennifer is overweight, shy, and withdrawn, and Cameron, who comes from an abusive home is just well—different. Both are endlessly teased, and they somehow find each other and form a deep connection. Until one day Cameron doesn’t show up at school, and the teacher says he moved. To say Jennifer is hurt because he didn’t say goodbye is an understatement. She’s crushed and just doesn't understand. Then one day the bullies at recess tell her that Cameron died. When her own mother doesn’t tell her differently, Jennifer is devastated and decides that the only way she can survive is to bury the person she is with him.

Eight years later, Jennifer is now Jenna, and she’s completely reinvented herself. She’s in great shape, goes to a different school, and has lots of friends, including a boyfriend Ethan, the handsomest boy in school. Externally, she seems happy and seems to have the perfect life. Internally, she struggles to keep “Jennifer” inside and is haunted by a terrifying experience that occurred at Cameron’s house on her ninth birthday. On her seventeenth birthday, she discovers that Cameron did not die and that he’s in her town. Memories and suppressed feelings come flooding back as she struggles to cope with this news.

Has their connection remained strong after all these years? Why didn’t he try to contact her before? Why didn’t her mother tell her the truth? What exactly happened at Cameron’s house so many years ago? Do Jenna and Cameron still have such a strong connection after all these years? Will Jenna leave Ethan for Cameron? Can she keep Jennifer inside? Sara Zarr’s second novel Sweethearts answers all these questions through a profound and gut-wrenching story.

Zarr does an exceptional job of drawing you in and make you FEEL Jenna’s emotions. As I was reading, I felt a lump in the pitt of my stomach as Jenna relived the horrifying day at Cameron’s house. I felt anger, confusion, heartache, and fear as Jenna struggles with Cameron’s return and all of the emotions that come flooding in with it.

From the very first chapter I was hooked as I read the following passage:

“Other memories stick, no matter how much you wish they wouldn’t. They’re like a song you hate but can’t ever get completely out of your head, and this song becomes the background noise of your entire life, snippets of lyrics, and lines of music floating up and then receding, a crazy kind of tide that never stops.” (p. 5, Advanced Reader Copy).

In addition to resounding passages like this one, Zarr is careful not to make Jenna “too adult.” She expertly reminds us that Jenna is seventeen through carefully crafted scenarios that take us inside the head of a teenager. Jenna grapples with friendships, her weight and self-image, boyfriends, the pressure to have sex, the pressure to drink—things that many young adults can identify with.

It’s evident that Sara Zarr poured her heart and soul into this book, and I can’t even remember the last time I read a book that resonated with me as much as Sweethearts did. If you liked Story of a Girl,you will love Sweethearts.

Note: Sweethearts goes on sale February 1, 2008. I got the exciting opportunity to interview Sara Zarr about this book, so look for this interview on February 4^th as I take part in the Sweethearts blog tour.

Sara Zarr is also going on a mini-tour to promote Sweethearts. If you live near San Francisco, Salt Lake City, or Phoenix/Tempe, visit her blog for dates and locations!

Jennifer Harris used to be that poor, chubby kid who sat alone in the cafeteria. Well, almost alone. There was Cameron Quick, another social outcast. Another kid living in poverty and living on the fringe of third grade society. He was her only friend and the only person who ever understood Jennifer Harris. And then he disappeared.

Years pass. Jennifer gets a new stepfather, a new house, a new school, a new name, a new life. She reinvents herself as Jenna Vaughn. Jenna Vaughn is one of the pretty, thin popular girls. She has friends and a hot boyfriend. But she also has a secret – a dark memory that ties her forever to Cameron Quick and to the old Jennifer Harris, who never really left. SWEETHEARTS is the story of Cameron’s return to Jennifer’s life and what happens when her two worlds meet.

As a National Book Award Finalist, Sara Zarr has a lot riding on this next novel, scheduled for release in February 2008. There will be inevitable comparisons to STORY OF A GIRL. Can this second book live up to that standard? Truth be told, I liked SWEETHEARTS even better. The characters in this novel absolutely shine, from the insecure third grade Jennifer and the third grade Cameron whose generosity and fierce loyalty made me want him for a friend, to the high school version of these kids, still haunted by their grade school selves. The minor characters shine, too. One of my favorites was Jenna’s stepfather, whose quiet support helps Jenna and her mother rebuild what was broken so many years ago.

Some character-driven novels sacrifice pace and tension, but that’s not the case with SWEETHEARTS. From the very first chapter, readers sense there’s a story from Jennifer’s childhood that’s not being told in its entirety. Zarr reveals that story in bits and pieces, snippets of memory and elegantly woven flashbacks throughout the book. All the while, the parts of the story left unspoken create powerful tension.

I read SWEETHEARTS in just a few sittings. When I was away from the book, I spent half my time thinking about the characters and hoping things would go well for them. They grow on you like that. Sara Zarr has written another fantastic novel –- one that celebrates the power of childhood friendships, loyalty, and inner strength. Like STORY OF A GIRL, Zarr's new release is loaded with realistic characters, hope, and heart. The fabulous cookie cover art delivers on its promise – SWEETHEARTS an absolutely delicious read. 

I'm working like a busy bee putting together the December Carnival of Children's Literature. It's going to be a great one--full of gifts, goodwill, and cheer. In the meantime, three things of note:

• If you're interested in writing a feature piece for The Edge of the Forest for January, February or March, please send me an e-mail as soon as possible. Even if you just have an idea, drop me a line and we'll talk.
  
• Did you love Story of a Girl, by Sara Zarr, as much as I did? Then check out Bob Andelman's interview with her over at Mr. Media.
• Do you belong to a book group? Are you looking for a great read for your January discussion? Then I highly recommend Matrimony, by Joshua Henkin. It's wonderful, beautifully written, and the author may have a bonus for you. What is it? Click here and read the comments.
  

National Book Award Nominees...

Finalists for the National Book Award for have recently been announced. Authors nominated in the Young People's Literature include 2008 CWIM contributor Kathleen Duey, for Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic, Book One (Atheneum) as well as Sherman Alexie for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown); M. Sindy Felin for Touching Snow (Atheneum); Brian Selznick for The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Scholastic); and debut author and Class of 2k7 member Sara Zarr for Story of a Girl (Little, Brown).

The full list is posted in GalleyCat. Winners will be announced in November 14.

I can't believe they'd even do this to me. Anyone, EVERYONE, who knows me knows how much trouble I have with sleep. I am a classic insomniac--the sleep doctor said so. Why would anyone do anything to destroy what little sleep I get?

The perpetrators: Fiona Neill and Sara Zarr. Ms. Neill has written an intelligent mommy-lit novel--think Desperate Housewives (without the murders) meets Sex in the City. The writing is quick and witty. Lucy, the main character, doesn't bore me with how cute her kids are or rant about her husband or any of those other things that real people bore me with. I could be friends with Lucy. That's why I can't put Slummy Mummy down. It's smart fun.

Sara Zarr made me stay up past 2 a.m. on a school night with Story of a Girl. Sara, how could you do this to me? It was almost midnight; I was going to read only one chapter, but no, your writing was too real and too tight for me to put down. It wasn't even like I was reading a book; the reading was effortless. I don't remember turning the pages. I just remember looking at the clock after closing the back cover.

Excellent stories. Amazing writers! (Fiona, Sara, you owe me some ZZZs.)

Good morning! Today's SBBT's guest is Sara Zarr, whose first novel Story of a Girl was released this spring. (You can read my review here.) When she's not writing, you can find Sara at her blog-- The Story of a Girl

Kelly: Tell us a little bit about Sara Zarr. Where do you live? How do you spend your days?

Sara: I've lived in Salt Lake City ever since my husband moved here for work about seven years ago, and I have to say I love it. There are a lot of displaced Californians like me here who feel like we've discovered this amazing secret of the quality of life available in Utah. Others are catching on, though. I think right now two of the fastest-growing cities in country are in Utah. Right now I'm writing full-time and spend my days creatively avoiding work.

Kelly: Beer, wine, or a soft drink?

Sara: I'm really sort of addicted to water, but in the summer there's nothing like a great local microbrew with friends. It may surprise people to know that Salt Lake City has several outstanding microbreweries.

Kelly: Who is your favorite writer?

Sara: Oh, I can never name favorites. Of anything. Robert Cormier is the writer who made me want to write.

Kelly: Beach, city, or forest?

Sara: City!

Kelly: What draws you to Young Adult literature in particular? What I mean is, why Young Adult fiction and not, say, mystery, chick lit, or "literary fiction"?

Sara: I'm sure some of it has to do with the influence of Cormier, and M.E. Kerr, and the other great YA authors I've always admired, but really it's just that when I think of stories they usually involve teenagers. There's something about adolescence that is ripe for storytelling, I guess, and I love the straightforward, concise sort of storytelling that seems to be one of the hallmarks of YA.

Kelly: Coffee, tea, or a triple skinny latte?

Sara: Why thank you for offering! Coffee with real half and half, no sweetener.

Kelly: Story of a Girl is your first novel. How long did it take you to write? And I mean from the very beginning--from the spark in your eye to the lovely product I just received?

Sara: I started writing the first draft in 2001, I think, so...six years? That's a bit deceptive, though, as there were huge chunks of time in there spent waiting to hear back from potential agents and editors and contests. I'd say about half that time was waiting.

Kelly: Movie, Theater, or a Concert?

Sara: Movie. Unless the concert is a rock concert in a small venue starring a band or songwriter I love.

Kelly: If you had an entire week and unlimited resources to do whatever you'd like, what would you do and why? <

Imagine you made a mistake as a teenager. A big mistake. Now imagine you made this mistake in a small town when you were thirteen years old.

Sara Zarr's moving Story of a Girl tells just this tale from the point of view of sixteen-year-old Deanna Lambert. At age 13, Deanna was caught "in the act" with her older brother's best friend. By her father. Oh, and Deanna and the boy were in a parked car.

Small towns being what they are, it takes only a day for Deanna's story to spread throughout Pacifica. From that moment on Deanna is the "school sl*t" (despite the fact she's avoided boys since the incident) and at home life isn't much better. Dad--nearly three years later--has yet to recover from finding his daughter in a car with a seventeen-year-old boy and he barely talks to Deanna.

Story of a Girl opens on the final day of Deanna's sophomore year. She's feeling stuck--in her small town, in her reputation, and in her family. Zarr does a great job in showing the depression--economic and emotional--of a place down on its luck. Deanna's only job option is a rundown pizza joint. Her parents professional lives have been downsized--Mom working in a Mervyns and Dad in an auto parts supply store. Deanna's much-loved older brother lives in the basement with his new wife and baby. Deanna's brother and his wife work in the grocery store. With everyone working retail hours, no one is home at the same time and the house is sliding into disrepair.

Deanna dreams of escape--of saving her money and moving out with her brother and his family. But escape is hard to come by when you are sixteen and live in a small town. Instead, Deanna must come to terms with what happened and forgive herself and others. Over the course of just this one summer, Deanna, with a few mistakes along the way, finds peace with herself, her reputation, her town, and her family. It's a beautiful gem of a book, one that will stay with me forever.

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Let me just add that I think the title and the cover art are so perfectly simple and evocative, they're small miracles. Deanna could be any girl, which is exactly the point.