As most of you would be well aware, Sarah Dessen has secured a book deal for her ninth novel.

Penguin Young Readers Group, longtime publisher of bestselling YA author Sarah Dessen, has acquired Dessen’s latest novel, Along for the Ride. Regina Hayes, president and publisher of Viking Children’s Books, did the deal with Leigh Feldman of Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman Literary Agents; Hayes will edit the novel as well. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. In Along for the Ride, which is scheduled to pub in June 2009, an 18-year-old high school graduate befriends a fellow insomniac, and together they explore their small town by night.

Is anyone else bursting at the seams in anticipation? The premise really intrigues me. I wonder if they romantic interest will be a bad boy, outsider, nerd or all round nice guy?  Insomnia can really suck so I think this could be an interesting exploration of what happens when the rest of us are asleep.

This is Sarah’s take on this developement, taken from her blog:

Finally, a big thanks to everyone for their enthusiasm about the new book. It was kind of unexpected, as I didn’t plan to have anything out until 2010, keeping with my a-book-every-two-years thing, but then I just had this good idea, and a couple of hours a few days a week thanks to my amazing babysitters, and it just kind of…happened. Which is a wonderful thing, especially since the writing of the last few books was SO hard and taxing. Who knew being crazy busy would actually make me MORE productive? Not me. But it is yet another thing to thank Sasha for, I guess. Anyway, I’ll have lots more to tell you about it all in the coming weeks, including a title, and a cover, and all that fun stuff. Plus it looks like I will be doing more touring this time than for Lock and Key, so hopefully I’ll be coming to a city near you. Stay tuned!

Okay still burning with excitement and anticipation.

On a personal note I want to congratulate Sarah for securing a deal to publish yet another book.  A huge accomplishment and something that we will all treasure once we have it in our hot little hands.