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Just Listen:
Author Sarah Dessen Shares Her Latest Young Adult Read
On UNC-TV's North Carolina Bookwatch, Friday, July 21, at 9:30 PM

New York Times best-selling author Sarah Dessen returns with Just Listen, a multi-layered, impossible to put down book that perfectly depicts Annabel, a teenager dealing with the hardest year of her life. Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything"-at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf 's Department Store. This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. This all changes when she meets Owen Armstrong-a tall, dark, and music-obsessed reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth telling. With Owen's help, Annabel faces what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

In this episode of UNC-TV's local literary series North Carolina Bookwatch, airing Friday, July 21, 9:30 PM, Sarah Dessen shares her book's story of a year in the life of a family coming to terms with the imperfections beneath its perfect facade.

"With my seventh novel, Just Listen, I wanted to do something with the idea of perfection. I think especially for girls in high school there is a lot of pressure to do things perfectly and to look perfect while they're doing it. I was also interested in the idea of conflict and how girls are often raised to be "nice"- nice to everyone and sweet-but at the same time need to stick up for themselves," says Dessen. "So, I created the character Annabel, who is a teenaged model and from a family of beautiful girls-a perfect girl on the surface who has a very imperfect life."

Dessen's teen-friendly fiction has become extraordinarily popular based on her ability to look through the eyes of her young subjects and appeal to young women seeking a protagonist who looks like them.

"Very rarely do you get an opportunity to get inside of the head of that 'perfect' girl, or at least the person you think is perfect. I think every high school has the girl who's gorgeous and who you think leads a perfect life and dates the perfect boy," says Dessen. "Here you get inside of her head and see that there's no such thing as the perfect girl."

During this all-new interview, the Chapel Hill native and University of North Carolina graduate reveals her unique perspective on the world of fiction for young adults and the local experiences that helped shape her latest best-selling work.

"To stay in touch with teenagers, I try to stick to universal themes, without trying to use the latest slang or fashion.. My first book came out 10 years ago and I'd like to think it's as topical now as it was then. That's always my aim that the book remain relevant even if times have changed," admits Dessen. "I think the reader is drawn to the fact that in all my books girls are in the process of becoming something. When the book starts up the girl is up against something she thinks she can't handle.and then sees her way to the other side."

Sarah Dessen grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and attended UNC-Chapel Hill, graduating with highest honors in Creative Writing. She is the author of several novels, including Someone Like You and The Truth About Forever. A motion picture based on her first two books, entitled How to Deal, was released in 2003. She lives in North Carolina.

Don't miss DG Martin's all-new interview with Sarah Dessen on North Carolina Bookwatch, Friday, July 21, at 9:30 PM, with an encore episode airingSunday, July 23, at 5 PM,only on UNC-TV!

During this season of North Carolina Bookwatch, guests also include: Will Blythe (To Hate Like This is to be Happy Forever, July 7), John Hart (TheKing of Lies, July 14), Kristin Henderson (While They're at War, July 28), David Payne (Back to Wando Passo, August 4), John Hope Franklin (Mirror to America, August 11), Leah Stewart (The Myth of You and Me, August 18), Andrew Britton (The American, August 25), Allan Gurganus (New Stories from the South, Sept. 1), Tom Carlson (Hatteras Blues, Sept. 8), Bill Smith (Seasoned in the South, Sept. 15), William Leuchtenburg (The White House Looks South, Sept. 22), Dot Jackson (Refuge, Sept. 29), Art Chansky (Blue Blood, Oct. 6), Mark Ethridge (Grievances, Oct. 13),  Paul Leonard (Music of a Thousand Hammers, Oct. 20), and Angela Davis-Gardner (Plum Wine, October 27).

For more information about additional series guests and airdates, plus, the all-new Bookwatch blog and online book club, please visit: www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch.

Funding for North Carolina Bookwatch is provided by UNC-TV members and by Quail Ridge Books and Music, Raleigh's independent, full service bookstore, bringing readers and writers together since 1984.

North Carolina Bookwatch is part of UNC-TV's ongoing commitment to produce programs for and about North Carolina. UNC-TV is the statewide 11-station broadcast network of the University of North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch.

For more information about North Carolina Bookwatch and UNC-TV's other local productions, please visit our website at www.unctv.org.

-UNC-TV-