Dear Zoe is an epistolary

Epistolary novel

An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use...

, young-adult novel by the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer Philip Beard

Philip Beard

Philip Beard is an American novelist.He was educated at Colgate University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is an attorney who lives in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.Beard is married with three kids.-Works:...

.

Set in 2002 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, it tells the story of 15-year-old Tess DeNunzio, who is wracked by guilt after losing her half-sister in a hit-and-run accident on the day of the September 11 attacks. The novel was selected by Booklist, a magazine of the American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

, as one of the ten best first novels of 2005.