Sara Zarr

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. Her first novel, Story of a Girl, was a 2007 National Book Award finalist. She is also the author of Sweethearts and Once Was Lost. All three are published by Little, Brown.

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. Her first three manuscripts were never published, but after winning the Utah Arts Council best 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.

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. While the characters are Christian, the book was published for a mainstream audience and neither promotes nor criticizes organized religion.