Sarah Dessen

So I've been reading a lot of Sarah Dessen lately. She's fantastic. I read This Lullaby and That Summer several years ago, and just finished Just Listen, Someone Like You, and Lock and Key. They were all great!

Just Listen is about Annabel Greene, who is a model but doesn't want to be. Her two sisters, also models, moved to New York, where one of them developed an eating disorder and the other developed interests outside of modelling. Annabel feels like she has to hold the family together, that they (especially her mom) will fall apart if she doesn't do what they expect of her, even if it's not what she wants. When her friends turn on her because of a terrible misunderstanding, she has nobody to talk to except Owen Armstrong, a big, scary loner. Turns out he's not so scary after she gets to know him, and the interesting thing is that he always tells the truth. Can Annabel be strong and tell the truth too, or will her world really fall apart if she does?

Scarlett and Halley have been friends forever. Halley rushes home from camp when Scarlett's boyfriend Michael is killed in a motorcycle accident. The day before, Scarlett had slept with Michael for the first time, and when she finds out she's pregnant, she doesn't know what to do. She can't go through with the abortion her mom has scheduled for her, and decides to keep the baby. Halley finds herself falling for Michael's best friend, bad boy Macon, and her sneaking around ruins her formerly great relationship with her mom. Halley and Scarlett remain best friends and support each other through their difficult times.

Ruby's been living alone in the old yellow house since her mom disappeared. She was getting by OK, until the landlord came to fix the dryer and called Child Services. Now she's been dumped at her rich sister and brother-in-law's house. Her sister obviously doesn't want anything to do with her - if she did, she wouldn't have run out on them and refused all contact, just like their dad. Ruby's all set to run away, but she gets caught. Luckily, Nate the neighbour boy vouches for her, but then he's everywhere, and Ruby just wishes he'd leave her alone. As the months go by and she gets closer to 18 and freedom, she unexpectedly starts making friends and enjoying her life with her sister. She finds out that things aren't always as they seem, and that sometimes you have to look for the truth.