Along for the Ride

Author of over a dozen YA novels, Sarah Dessen is the recipient of the 2017 Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association for outstanding contribution to young adult literature. Her work has been published in more than 30 countries and has sold millions of copies. Though all her books were New York Times best sellers, she is best known for The Truth About Forever, Saint Anything, The Moon and More, Along for the Ride, Lock and Key, Just Listen, and This Lullaby. The 2003 romantic comedy-drama film How to Deal was based on her first two novels: That Summer and Someone Like You. Dessen’s books are frequently chosen for the Teens’ Top Ten list and the Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

All of Dessen’s novels are told from the first-person perspective of a female teenager. Dessen’s linked narratives examine teenagers dealing with important topics such as love, grief, abuse, eating disorders, drug addiction, divorce, family, friendships, and more. Her most common recurring themes include the protagonist’s growth through gaining new perspectives from other characters, female friendships, mother-daughter relationships, family dynamics, overcoming loss (including the death of a parent or romantic partner), and romantic relationships with compelling young men. Along for the Ride exemplifies these themes, as Auden broadens her explorations about whether people can change.

Dessen makes multiple allusions to other books in her fictional universe. Close readers can find these hidden surprises, particularly connected characters. Below are some of the many allusions that occur in Along for the Ride:

• Auden mentions going to Jackson High before attending her private school. Jackson is Caitlin’s school in Dreamland, Macy’s school in The Truth About Forever, Annabel’s school in Just Listen, Mclean’s school in What Happened to Goodbye, and Sydney’s in Saint Anything.
• Auden attends Defriese University, which Ruby applies to in Lock and Key. The university is also the home of the basketball team McLean and her dad love in What Happened to Goodbye.
• Auden has a Ume.com page, which is the social media website created by Jamie from Lock and Key.
• The minor character Jason was Macy’s boyfriend in The Truth About Forever. He is Auden’s academic equal and friend.
• Wes from The Truth About Forever is referenced by Jason as a “delinquent welder with a tattoo.”
• Heidi’s best friends are Morgan and Isabel from Keeping the Moon.
• Auden goes to the Last Chance Cafe and gives her order to a pretty, dark-haired girl with a lip ring, who is most likely Colie Sparks from Keeping the Moon.
• Heidi and Auden buy matching necklaces with a studded key. These are the same necklaces from Lock and Key.

Besides linking her characters through plotlines, Dessen uses the fictional beach town of Colby, North Carolina, as a frequent setting, including in this novel. Dessen lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband and daughter, so she can draw from her real-life experiences of this landscape for her setting. Along for the Ride was inspired by more than her setting though, as Dessen explains:

Well, the book was inspired by the birth of my daughter. I had written eight books as a daughter, you know, a lot of mother-daughter books from the daughter’s point of view. And I thought I had mothers pretty much figured out. Then I became a mother, which brought a whole rush of emotions and change. I suddenly saw mothers in a different way and definitely much more sympathetically. I think when you become a parent, you have a lot more sympathy for your own parents because it’s a tough job. So it started with that (Struss, Jason. “Sarah Dessen & Sofia Alvarez on Along for the Ride's dreamy YA love story.” Digital Trends, 2022).

Dessen’s life experiences are clear inspirations for this book. Her questions and ideas about insomnia, likely fueled by her new motherhood, helped create Auden’s character. Likewise, Heidi’s struggles as a new mother were almost certainly influenced by the fact that Dessen had just given birth to her own daughter.