Sara Zarr

Sara Zarr
Picture of Sara Zarr at 2011 SCBWI conference in New York City
Born	October 3, 1970 (1970-10-03) (age 41) Cleveland, Ohio
Occupation	novelist
Nationality	American
Period	2007 - present
Genres	Young adult fiction, Essay
sarazarr.com

Sara Zarr (born October 3, 1970) is an American writer. She was raised in San Francisco, and now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband.^[1] Her first novel, Story of a Girl, was a 2007 National Book Award finalist.^[2] She is also the author of Sweethearts and Once Was Lost. All three are published by Little, Brown.^[3]

Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in San Francisco, she earned a degree in communications from San Francisco State University. Zarr grew up as an Evangelical Christian, a faith with which she still associates though she lives in a predominately Mormon community.^[4] Her first three manuscripts were never published, but after winning the Utah Arts Council best young-adult novel of 2003,^[5] she was able to find an agent who successfully sold Story of a Girl as the first of a two-book deal.^[6]

Inspired by the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart and Zarr's Christian roots, Once Was Lost addresses issues of faith, identity and home. The title comes from the hymn Amazing Grace written by John Newton.^[7] While the characters are Christian, the book was published for a mainstream audience and neither promotes nor criticizes organized religion.

In 2008, Zarr contributed to the YA for Obama project started by fellow YA author Maureen Johnson. Zarr's articles included "Red State Jesus Freaks for Obama" and "Personal Sacrifice."^[8]

Bibliography

Standalone Novels

• 2007 — Story of a Girl
• 2008 — Sweethearts
• 2009 — Once Was Lost
• 2011 — How to Save a Life (upcoming)

Zarr also reads the audio version of her books.

Short Fiction

• "This Is My Audition Monologue" appears in Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci, 2009

Essays

• "It Is Good" appears in Does This Book Make Me Look Fat?, edited by Marissa Walsh, 2008
• "Who Is My Mother, Who Are My Brothers?" first appeared in Image, and appears in Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing Up Female and Evangelical, edited by Hannah Faith Notess, 2009

Awards

• Story of a Girl - 2007 National Book Award finalist; 2008 American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults^[9]
• Sweethearts - 2008 Cybil Award Finalist;^[10] 2009 American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults ^[11]
• Story of a Girl (audiobook) - 2009 American Library Association Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults ^[12]

References

1. ^ http://classof2k7.com/authors/sara_zarr.php
2. ^ http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2007_ypl_zarr.html
3. ^ Sara Zarr at Goodreads
4. ^ http://www.blubrry.com/interviews/689474/young-adult-novelist-sara-zarr-finds-third-time-with-mr-media-is-the-charm-or-does-she/
5. ^ http://arts.utah.gov/funding/competitions/writing_competition/index.html
6. ^ "Characters, small events are focus of Utah author". Deseret Morning News. 2007-03-18. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,660203835,00.html. 
7. ^ Young adult novelist Sara Zarr finds third time with Mr. Media is the charm! (Or does she?). Interview. Mr. Media. 2007-03-18. http://www.blubrry.com/interviews/689474/young-adult-novelist-sara-zarr-finds-third-time-with-mr-media-is-the-charm-or-does-she/. 
8. ^ http://yaforobama.ning.com/
9. ^ http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/08bbya.cfm
10. ^ http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/shortlists/The2008CybilsShortlistsWithBlurbs.pdf
11. ^ http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/09bbya.cfm
12. ^ http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/amazingaudiobooks/09aaya.cfm

External links

• Official web site
• Little Brown author page

Persondata
Name	Zarr, Sara
Alternative names
Short description	American writer
Date of birth	October 3, 1970
Place of birth	Cleveland, Ohio
Date of death
Place of death