First-time author Sara Zarr gives the skinny on her novel 'Story of a Girl'

In the opening pages, 13-year-old Deanna is caught by her father having oral sex with a 17-year-old. Although that sounds pretty racy, it seems like you went out of your way to describe the experience in the least explicit language possible.

When I was a teen, my mom was involved in what I was reading, and there were certain books that I loved that I would hide behind my other books on my bookshelf. I didn’t necessarily want to put teen readers in the position of having to hide a book on their bookshelves. Honestly, I really didn’t think about it. For me, in books or movies, less is more—that’s just the way I like things. I will say when I did the very last pass through the manuscript before it was going to go to press, I did get rid of a lot of swearing because I didn’t want to create obstacles for the book that weren’t necessary.

Thanks to the guy she hooked up with, Deanna gets a reputation as the school slut and struggles to change others’ perceptions. From your perspective, what is the story really about?

For me, it’s about family—the one you’re born into and the one you create. That’s always been something that’s interested me.

You grew up in Pacifica, the town where the story takes place. What was that like?

Pacifica is really a strange place. Before I lived in Pacifica, I lived in San Francisco, which is obviously this progressive, urban, diverse place. Pacifica is just 15 miles down the coast from San Francisco, but it is a completely different world. As an adult, I can see the charm of it. It’s this great little coastal bedroom community. My in-laws still live there. But as a teen, especially if you don’t have a car, it’s just the kind of place you would feel trapped. Kids always called it Pathetica. It was foggy all the time and that contributed to the feeling of despair that you already have when you’re a teenager. I really can’t picture the story set anywhere else.

What else in the novel is autobiographical?

I’m really drawn to father-daughter stories. I always had a very difficult relationship with my father for different reasons than Deanna in the story. My dad was an alcoholic and very difficult to get to know and get close to. Actually, I didn’t live with him when I was in high school. He had left before that. But there was always a part of me that longed for him to acknowledge me and approve of me and show some interest in my life. He just passed away last year, so I feel freer to speak about it. And like I was saying earlier, there is an aspect of creating family outside of your biological family, getting close with your friends—just that yearning for connection and belonging and wanting someone to say you’re OK and you’re desirable and you’re not a loser.

You’re really good at creating emotionally vulnerable characters. Even the creepy ones seem to have something admirable deep inside themselves.

When I watch a movie or read a book, I see the humanity in every character, even the people you don’t like—and I’m like that in life. When I encounter people who are rude or bitter or mean, there’s a part of me that’s thinking, “Oh, but they’ve got to have this human side, and I’m sure there are situations in which they’re vulnerable.” I just have compassion for people. I think we’re all in the same boat. We exhibit ourselves in different ways in the world, but underneath it we all have these fears and desires. I go through life like that, and that’s why it comes across in the writing.