“If you try anything, if you try to lose weight, or to improve yourself, or to love, or to make the world a better place, you have already achieved something wonderful, before you even begin. Forget failure. If things don't work out the way you want, hold your head up high and be proud. And try again. And again. And again!”

American novelist, young adult fiction

Sarah Dessen is an American novelist known for young adult fiction. Her first book, That Summer, appeared in 1996. She has published more than a dozen other novels and novellas, and 221 quotes on this site are attributed to her. Her work centers on stories for young readers, and in 2017 she received the Margaret Edwards Award for part of that body of work. Two of her books were adapted into the 2003 film How to Deal.