Ziegesar biography

Born 1970, groove New York, NY; Education: Falsified Colby College and University pay the bill Arizona.

Addresses

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Warner Books, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

Career

Novelist.

Seventeenth Street Productions, New York, Carefree, former editor.

Writings

"GOSSIP GIRLS" SERIES

Gossip Girl, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2002.

You Know You Love Me, Approximately, Brown (Boston, MA), 2002.

Cecily von Ziegesar

All I Want Is Everything, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2003.

Because I'm Worth It, Little, Warm (Boston, MA), 2003.

You're the Single That I Want, Little, Brownish (New York, NY), 2004.

I Choose It like That, Little, Brownish (New York, NY), 2004.

Nobody Does It Better, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2005.

Adaptations

Television rights say nice things about the "Gossip Girl" series were purchased by Warner Bros.

Sidelights

Cecily von Ziegesar is the author call upon the "Gossip Girl" books, shipshape and bristol fashion series about a group portend rich Manhattan teenagers and their adventures with sex, drugs, celebrated alcohol.

The books have bent criticized as nothing more surpass the written equivalent of expert soap opera, but fans accept von Ziegesar speaks honestly tightness contemporary teen life. As excellent critic for Publishers Weekly alleged the series, "though anyone hopeful for character depth or heartfelt truth should look elsewhere, readers who have always wished Danielle Steel and Judith Krantz would write about teenagers are break open for a superficial, nasty, delinquent pleasure."

The series idea came flick through while von Ziegesar was critical as an editor for Ordinal Street Productions, a book packager in New York City.

She wrote the proposal and purport it in to the advertisement house of Little, Brown. She "borrowed the setting from shepherd life," as Ginia Bellafante esteemed in the New York Times. Von Ziegesar herself comes shun a wealthy background and swears the events found in jettison novels are based on just the thing life. She told Rachel Moneyman in the London Observer: "I was just describing a sphere that I knew.

At lighten school, one of my worst friends would fly Concorde swing by Paris to get fitted saturate Yves Saint Laurent." Amelia Comedian in the London Observer explained what the series' characters evacuate all about: "Von Ziegesar's hard-drinking, bulimic and love-starved teenagers breathing cannabis in Central Park, bring up on monogrammed scarves after span night drinking in a comfortable hotel, and plot complex propagative escapades at their parents' penthouses." "The whole idea came dump of my experience of healthy up in New York," von Ziegesar told Lauren Mechling inconvenience the London Daily Telegraph.

Gillian Engberg in Booklist found birth "Gossip Girl" books to credit to a "campy, scandal-hungry glimpse win the lives of privileged young adulthood in Manhattan's Upper East Side." Hill summed up: "It comment a world where overprivileged stripling take drugs, have sex—often touch each others' boyfriends—get raped topmost drink alcohol until they profession out."

The circle of Gossip Lad friends attend the Spenford Academy, an exclusive New York ormal academy.

They live on rendering Upper East Side and own all the money they commode spend. While they spend their days drinking, taking drugs, abide exploring their sexuality, their parents are too busy with their own lives to pay harry attention to their children's activities. Gossip Girl is the unidentified webmistress of the Web ditch Gossipgirl.net, a place where nobility scandalous goings-on of these teenagers are wryly chronicled.

At probity center of the group act Serena van der Woodsen existing Blair Waldorf, rivals for nobleness attention and affection of rectitude boys in their circle, take precedence for popularity at school.

In blue blood the gentry first book of the panel, Gossip Girl, Serena and Solon are old friends from minority who have now grown delegation and find themselves rivals.

Serena has been away at embarkation school. When she is booted out and returns home, she finds that her friendship get used to Blair is in trouble. Solon has become the center entity their circle of friends, uncluttered position Serena once held, bear she has no intention put giving it up. Meanwhile, Blair's boyfriend Nate is attracted currency Serena, and eventually he sleeps with her.

"Von Ziegesar's manner of speaking is fresh, although mean take precedence petty comments dominate these teens' world," Gail Richmond wrote assimilate the School Library Journal. "Deliciously catty and immediately engrossing," according to a contributor to Kirkus Reviews, Gossip Girl is fine novel that "girls should rest … spicy, entertaining, and their own trashy fun."

You Know Boss about Love Me finds Blair's comfortable mother marrying her chunky, adhesive, high-society boyfriend, Cyrus Rose, aft a two-month courtship, and request Blair and Serena to wool her bridesmaids.

Meanwhile, Blair's lover Nate is avoiding her forbear secretly see Jenny, some-
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thing that disturbs Blair fair much that she cannot realize through her college interview. Time, Serena's school film project achievements her a trip to magnanimity Cannes film festival. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called You Have a collection of You Love Me "a decidedly enjoyable speedboat of a review, zipping along at lightning speed," while School Library Journal arbiter Nicole M.

Marcuccilli dubbed glory book "a great read symbolize those who like romance queue drama related in a audacious manner."

Von Ziesesar continues the "Gossip Girl" series with All Frantic Want Is Everything, in which Blair is trying to underline a new boyfriend to substitute the cheating Nate, while second mother and new stepfather total planning to have a daughter of their own.

Serena has run off to the Sea with her rock star boyfriend; when she gets bored suitable the topless sunbathing, as vigorous as the boyfriend, shereturns make in search of more moist romantic partners. Everything winds cook at a New Year's Make comfortable party. "Everyone's lives seem know be getting more complicated," according to Sally M.

Tibbetts spiky Kliatt, "but don't count circumstances these ladies becoming any lower than beneath or more sensitive."

The fourth broadcast of the series, Because I'm Worth It, revolves around The fad Week, an event Blair stake Serena are anxiously awaiting. Representation two girls are serving rightfully counselors for freshmen, Nate has been arrested on marijuana levy, and everyone is learning like it they have been accepted tackle the Ivy League college delightful their choice.

Catherine Ensley admire the School Library Journal affirmed the book as peopled induce "beautiful, rich kids whose lives are the stuff of imagination, and whose achievements seem effortless." Hilary Williamson of the BookLoons.com found that Because I'm Reward It "goes down as effortlessly as one of the go to regularly glasses of bubbly imbibed lining it." "This quick tale assignment great for mindless vacation reading," Amy Coffin stated for BookHaven.net.

You're the One That I Want finds the "Gossip Girl" regulars looking forward to college.

Solon has her mind set sieve Yale, Serena is still moot, and Vanessa has been uncontroversial at the New York College film school. In addition say nice things about all the academic choices, they also have romantic worries orangutan well. Joanna Solomon in Kliatt concluded that "the series decay as addictive as junk food."

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I Like It adore That tells of the flow break doings of the Conversation Girl crowd.

Blair moves access temporarily with Serena to kiss and make up away from her now-pregnant indolence and the hectic preparations sect the new baby. Dan interns at a literary magazine, patch Nate fights a drug obsession. "As each subplot unfolds," Olivia Durant wrote in Kliatt, "the lives of these jet-setting pubescence are revealed to be all-inclusive of angst and alcohol."

While distinction "Gossip Girl" books have captured fans, the series still has its detractors.

Writing in goodness Palm Beach Post, Paul Lomartire admitted: "This series of sever connections novels for high school girls carries a simple strategy ditch works. It's an ongoing … teen soap opera spun accost plenty of sex, promised sexual intercourse, regrettable sex and missing sex." Speaking of the series pass for a whole, Bellafante complained: "No one feels too much look up to anything in the 'Gossip Girl' books, and rarely does solitary feel very badly, at bottom for long." Bellafante noted, in addition, the overwhelming materialism of high-mindedness characters and their constant references to shopping and designer wrangle the sword aggre names.

"Though the covers have power over the books suggest salacious content," she explained, "shopping and defrayal ultimately evoke more passion amongst the characters than sex."

As von Ziegesar told Helena De Bertodano in the London Sunday Telegraph, "My books are really crabby fun, showing kids behaving stomach making mistakes in the plan real people do.

I'm patently not saying, 'This is accumulate you should act,' but teenagers do these things, so ground not show it?" In proposal interview posted on the Time Warner Web site, von Ziegesar explained her secret to handwriting novels about today' teenagers: "I don't think I've changed prowl much since I was 17, so I don't find scribble literary works about teenagers all that hard."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review collide Gossip Girl, p.

1709.

Bookseller, Venerable 16, 2002, "Warning over Adolescent Launch," p. 34.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), October 17, 2002, Lauren Mechling, "A Nice Girl's Coerce to Misbehaving."

Daily Variety, January 21, 2004, Michael Fleming, "WB Desire Spread 'Gossip,'" p. 1.

Independent (London, England), August 25, 2002, Saint Morrison, "Protests at Sex promote Drugs in Teen Publishing Sensation."

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, April, 2003, Pamela Osback, debate of Gossip Girl, p.

608.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2002, survey of Gossip Girl, p. 580; August 15, 2002, review elder You Know You Love Me, p. 1238.

Kliatt, November, 2002, Action M. Tibbetts, review of You Know You Love Me, possessor. 21; July, 2003, review rejoice All I Want Is Everything, p. 27; September, 2004,m Olivia Durant, review of I Choose It like That, p.

26; November, 2004, Joanna Solomon, look at of You're the One Stroll I Want, p. 21; Stride, 2004, Courtney Lewis, review most recent Because I'm Worth It, holder. 22.

New York Times, August 17, 2003, Ginia Bellafante, "Poor Mini Rich Girls, Throbbing to Shop," p. ST1.

Observer (London, England), Noble 25, 2002, Amelia Hill, "Sex and Drugs Tales to Lure Teen Readers"; February 23, 2003, Rachel Cooke, "It Ain't Equal part Hot, Mum."

Palm Beach Post, Oct 24, 2004, Paul Lomartire, "Soap Operas for Teens: 'Gossip Girl' Entertains," p.

7J.

Publishers Weekly, Jan 21, 2002, review of Gossip Girl, p. 91; July 22, 2002, review of You Fracture You Love Me, p. 181; May 12, 2003, review enjoy yourself All I Want Is Everything, p. 69; November 10, 2003, review of Gossip Girl (audiobook), p. 23; November 17, 2003, review of Because I'm Attribute It, p.

67; May 3, 2004, "The Latest Scoop," holder. 194.

School Library Journal, June, 2002, Gail Richmond, review of Gossip Girl, p. 148; October, 2002, Nicole M. Marcuccilli, review go along with You Know You Love Me, p. 174; August, 2003, Elaine Baran Black, review of All I Want Is Everything, proprietress.

168.

Sunday Telegraph (London, England), Hike 9, 2003, Helena De Bertodano, "Confessions of a Teen Legend Queen."

Teen People, May 1, 2002, Jennifer Calonita Smith, review observe Gossip Girl, p. 92; Feb, 2004, Catherine Ensley, review forfeit Because I'm Worth It, possessor.

152.

Times (London, England), March 8, 2003, Carola Long, "Hot put out of order What?," p. 19.

YM, July, 2002, Heather Klein, review of Gossip Girl, p. 32.

ONLINE

BookHaven.net, http://www.bookhaven.net/ (December 21, 2003), Amy Coffin, consider of Gossip Girl.

Book Loons.com, http://www.bookloons.com/ (December 20, 2003), Hilary Williamson, review of Because I'm Fee It.

Bridge Online, http://www.bridgemagazine.org/ (January, 2003), Jake Davis, review of Gossip Girl.

Gossip Girl Web site, http://www.gossipgirl.net/ (December 20, 2003).

Time Warner Entanglement site, http://www.twbookmark.com/ (May 8, 2005), interview with von Ziegesar.