Sarah Dessen, the author of “Lock and Key”, was born and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dessen graduated UNC Chapel Hill with highest honors in her college Creative Writing class. She has now written 11 wonderful books with excellent ratings and reviews. Girls Life Magazine gives it “...two thumbs up!”. “How to Deal” , a movie directed by Clare Kilner was based off of Sarah Dessen’s first two books!













Lock and Key is an excellent book about a girl named Ruby who is a shy, observant 17 year old who was abandoned by her mother. Her mother’s name was also Ruby. Ruby (mother) was a severe alcoholic, and was very unsocial. The mother was also abusive. She was taken away from her house in the country-side by Child Protective Services. Her sister, Cora, had left for college about 5 years before Ruby was removed from her home, and she was convinced that Cora had forgotten about her. Cora had gotten married to Jamie, the owner of UME.com which is a social network. Cora and Jamie took her to private school, where she met Nate, a tall, blond, shaggy haired, competitive swimmer. His father owned a company that finished random tasks and ran errands for anyone. Nate always helped, but his father verbally abused him. All of the characters live in an upscale community. Ruby had a job at a jewelry kiosk in their local mall. Harriet, her boss was so inspired by Ruby’s key, which was the key to her old house, which she wore around her neck, that she made some replicas of it to sell. The necklaces were a huge hit, and almost every girl at school wore one.






Ruby thought she was fine on her own in her house by the countryside. She was 17, almost a legal adult, and could take care of herself- or so she thought. First, the sink and dryer quit working. Soon after, she ran out of money to pay the gas, water, and electric bills. The entire house was falling apart. The landlords checked on the house because they noticed that her mother’s car had been missing for weeks. After realizing that Ruby’s mother was nowhere to be found, they called CPS. Cora and Jamie took her in , and welcomed her with open arms. On the first night, Ruby tried to hop the fence and go back to her old house. She ended up in Nate’s yard, and he noticed her when he was taking a break form swimming laps in his pool.










At school, her first assignment was to find the true definition of “family”. She asks Cora and she says, “It’s something you and I never had, Ruby.” She says this after reading her false pregnancy test. After a few weeks, Ruby realizes that she needs to adjust to her new life. She finally does, and around the New Year, she helps Nate with the business. They end up getting into a relationship and quickly after, she saw Nate’s father smack his face. Nate said it was nothing to worry about and that it was just stress. Although he went from smacking and verbally abusing him, to neglecting him. At the end of the story, Nate is sent to Arizona to live with his mother, and Ruby gives him her key to keep until he comes back for college.











I think the theme of this story is about learning to trust people. Ruby changes a lot throughout this story. She grows to be a smarter, stronger person. Nate has changed , too. He now knows that it’s not okay for people to hurt you, and sometimes you need a break. Overall, I did like this story, but the author did not give it a complete ending. I feel like there were some questions that went unanswered. A second book about them would be a “must-read” for me!