Writer Sara Zarr had an experience last night that any author would kill for – sitting in the audience at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in Manhattan, her first novel, Story of a Girl, a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award for young people’s literature. For a first-time fiction author, such a nomination is remarkable, and it would be fun for both of us to tell you that she won, but it wasn’t meant to be, not this time around. Don’t shed too many tears for Sara, however. She’s young, talented, and has already completed her second young adult title, Sweethearts, due on Valentine’s Day 2008 from Little, Brown. Sara Zarr • • • •