"Dreamland" by Sarah Dessen

When it comes to uber-popular authors like Sarah Dessen, I don't always get around to reading their work as quickly as I would like.  I'm a slow reader, and I don't like to take books out of the hands of eager teens if I can avoid it.  So, it was serendipity that I was able to get this title as an eBook from the DC Public library -- for reading on my new iPad, supplied by my employer.  I saw Ms. Dessen at the National Book Festival last year and enjoyed listening to her.  She is a funny, energetic and upbeat presenter, whose overall persona belies her age.  She seemed like a bouncy post-college girl with her short skirt, high heels and big earrings (she is actually in her 40s).  Obviously, her ability to stay in touch with that younger self is a big part of what makes her books so successful.  Students say that her work "speaks to them" and it is easy to see why.  The descriptions are clear -- I could picture every setting, every person, in my mind.  Details like "tinkling silver bracelets" bring important undertones to the story.  The characterizations in "Dreamland" are so realistic that I found myself comparing the characters to people I know, analyzing how the relationships in the book reflect mine, particularly where mothers and daughters are concerned.  Sarah Dessen's bubbly personality may make it easier for her to reach the younger set with her writing, but it's still a mystery as to where she draws such dark tales from.  Dubbed "Jodi Piccoult Jr." for her troubled themes, "Dreamland" was a book that got me in ways I didn't expect.  It starts out as typical teen novel -- there is family upset and resulting stress.  But then it turns.  I just had this knot in my stomach as Caitlin, the teenage girl at the center of the story, makes dramatic changes to her life.  Like many teens, she idealizes situations which I, as an adult, know won't end well, but Ms. Dessen is neither arch nor judgmental.  She stays true to who Caitlin is, and where she is, and lets the story happen.  This, as I have written about so often in the past few months, is good writing.  The author isn't superimposing, she simply draws a strong set of characters and events, then lets the book go to where it needs to go.  Without giving too much away, this is a tale with physical abuse, and Ms. Dessen got every detail right.  I wonder, having read the book, whether/how she did the research to make this story so authentic.  In the end, it isn't the "moral lessons" that come out, as they do in those achingly preachy teen tomes, but a sense of struggle and survival, of working to find oneself  -- something that is lost by so many teens -- that comes through.  It's upbeat without being overly clean and the complexity that is life remains.  I did laugh at the lack of cellphones and computers (the book has a 2000 copyright).  Amazing to think of how relationships have changed these days because of technology, although I expect Ms. Dessen would have could have found a way to tell this story regardless of time period.  While a distressing read in some ways, it was far better than I expected for an author sometimes dismissed by critics as "chick-lit."  I look forward to reading the next book of hers that I can actually get my hands on.