Sarah Dessen was born in Evanston, Illinois on June 6, 1970. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993 with a degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing. Her first book, That Summer, was published in 1996. She mainly writes for young adults, and her books include Someone Like You, Just Listen, Along for the Ride, Keeping the Moon, Dreamland, What Happened to Goodbye and The Moon and More. She also teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.