Someone Like You, published in 1998, tells the story of Scarlett and Halley, best friends since elementary school. Quiet Halley usually follows outgoing Scarlett's lead, but that has not stopped them from sharing everything important. The summer before their junior year in high school, Scarlett's boyfriend dies in a car accident. Scarlett finds herself pregnant and needs Halley's support. Halley does her best, but she finds herself facing her own problems—trying to separate from her controlling, psychologist mother, her secretive relationship with the irresponsible Macon Faulkner, and the declining health of her Grandma Halley.

Dessen's novel was designated as an ALA best book for Young Adults, an ALA Quick Pick for Young Adults, and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.