Sara Zarr (born October 3, 1970) is an American writer. She was raised in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and now lives in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

with her husband. Her first novel, '' Story of a Girl'', was a 2007

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

finalist. She has subsequently had six novels published.

Biography and career

Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and raised in San Francisco, she earned a degree in communications from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

. Zarr grew up as part of a

Jesus Movement The Jesus movement was an Evangelicalism, evangelical Christian movement which began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, and Central America, before it su ...

church and still identifies as a Christian. Her first three manuscripts were never published, but after winning the Utah Arts Council prize for best unpublished young adult novel of 2003, she was able to find an agent who successfully sold ''Story of a Girl'' as the first of a two-book deal, to

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

. Inspired by the kidnapping of

Elizabeth Smart Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. ...

and Zarr's Christian roots, her third book, ''Once Was Lost'' (also published as ''What We Lost'') addresses issues of faith, identity and home. The original title comes from the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

'' written by

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forc ...

. 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

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

for Obama project started by fellow YA author

Maureen Johnson Maureen Johnson (born February 16, 1973) is an American author of young adult fiction. Her published novels include series leading titles such as ''13 Little Blue Envelopes'', ''The Name of the Star'', ''Truly Devious,'' and ''Suite Scarlett''. ...

. Zarr's articles included "Red State Jesus Freaks for Obama" and "Personal Sacrifice." Zarr has been a regular contributor to Image Journal's Good Letters blog. In 2010, she served as a judge for the

s. From 2013-2015, Zarr taught at

Lesley University Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of 2018-19 Lesley University enrolled 6,593 students (2,707 undergraduate and 3,886 graduate). History ...

’s Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. From 2012-2015; 2020-present Zarr hosted and produced the podcas
This Creative Life
It featured Zarr in conversation with other writers. She has self-published a companion book to the podcast. With her 2017 novel, ''Gem & Dixie'' (loosely based on some of her early life experiences), Zarr moved to the

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

imprint

Balzer + Bray HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Co ...

, and has another book slated with them for 2018. '' Story of a Girl'' was adapted into a television movie that will air on Lifetime starting in July 2017. It marks

Kyra Sedgwick Kyra Minturn Sedgwick (; born August 19, 1965) is an American actress, producer and director. For her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama ''The Closer'', she won a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Awa ...

's directorial debut and features Sedgewick's husband,

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...

Bibliography

Standalone novels

*2007 — '' Story of a Girl'' *2008 — ''Sweethearts'' *2009 — ''Once Was Lost'' (Republished as ''What We Lost'' in 2013, then reverted to original title) *2011 — ''How to Save a Life'' *2013 — ''The Lucy Variations'' *2013 — ''Roomies'' co-written with Tara Altebrando *2017 — ''Gem & Dixie'' *2020 — ''Goodbye from Nowhere'' *2020 — ''Courageous Creativity: Advice and Encouragement for the Creative Life'' *2022 — ''A Song Called Home'' Zarr has also read the audio versions of four of her books.

Short fiction

*"This Is My Audition Monologue" appears in ''Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd'', edited by

Holly Black Holly Black (''née'' Riggenbach; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the ''New York Times'' bestselling young adult ''Folk of the Air'' series. ...

and

Cecil Castellucci Cecil C. Castellucci (born October 25, 1969 in New York City), also known as Cecil Seaskull, is an American-born Canadian young adult novelist, indie rocker, and director. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Biography Castellucci gre ...

, 2009 *"Train" appears in the Spring 2016 issue o
Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith

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 An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

, and appears in ''Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing Up Female and Evangelical'', edited by Hannah Faith Notess, 2009

Awards and nominations

* ''Story of a Girl'' - 2007 National Book Award finalist; 2008

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Best Books for Young Adults * ''Sweethearts'' - 2008 Cybil Award Finalist; 2009

Best Books for Young Adults, Utah Book Award Finalist * ''Story of a Girl'' (audiobook) - 2009

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults * ''Once Was Lost -'' 2009 Utah Book Award Winner, INSPY Award Winner * ''How to Save a Life -'' 2011 Utah Book Award Winner,

Salt Lake City Weekly ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (usually shortened to ''City Weekly'') is a free alternative weekly tabloid-paged newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began as ''Private Eye''. ''City Weekly'' is published and dated for every Thursday by C ...

Arty Award Winner for Fiction * ''Gem & Dixie'' - 2017 PEN Los Angeles Literary Prize Finalist

Personal life

Zarr has spoken and written openly about growing up in an alcoholic family system and its influences on her writing. She was married in 1990; she and her husband have no children.

References

External links

*
Little Brown author page

HarperCollins author page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarr, Sara 1970 births Living people American children's writers American women novelists American writers of young adult literature 20th-century American novelists San Francisco State University alumni Writers from San Francisco Writers from Cleveland Writers from Salt Lake City American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers Women writers of young adult literature Novelists from Ohio Novelists from Utah 21st-century American women