Gossip Girl is a series of novels for teenagers created by Cecily von Ziegesar and written by herself as well as by an unknown ghost writer. The name of the first novel in the series, Gossip Girl, is also the nom de plume of the narrator. It has also been adapted into a TV series airing on The CW and CTV. It spawned two spin-off book series, The It Girl and Gossip Girl: The Carlyles.

Books

The books are published by Alloy Entertainment and distributed by Little, Brown and Company and Bloomsbury Publishing. The complete series has been published in paperback with the last book, a prequel, It Had To Be You, published in hardcover. Books nine, ten and eleven of the main series were ghostwritten.

1. Gossip Girl
2. You Know You Love Me
3. All I Want Is Everything
4. Because I'm Worth It
5. I Like It Like That
6. You're the One That I Want
7. Nobody Does It Better
8. Nothing Can Keep Us Together
9. Only in Your Dreams
10. Would I Lie to You?
11. Don't You Forget About Me
12. I Will Always Love You (Coming November 2009)

Prequel

1. It Had To Be You

The series has spawned two spin-offs, The It Girl and Gossip Girl: The Carlyles.

Central characters

Blair Waldorf:The series' main character, Blair Cornelia Waldorf is described as a 5'4" and slender girl with brilliant blue eyes and a fox-like face. She is involved in extracurricular activities and is very intelligent and determined. For the first three books, she had long, chestnut hair, but chopped it into a pixie cut in Because I'm Worth It, before having it extended in Don't You Forget About Me. She is a hopeless romantic who idolizes Audrey Hepburn and has a sensitive side that contrasts her tendency to be controlling. She loves to pretend her life is a movie and watches Breakfast at Tiffany's and Roman Holiday often. She is vain, although her friendship with it-girl Serena van der Woodsen causes her to be insecure at times. In the first book, when Serena returns, Blair is extremely reluctant to let her back into her life because it would mean giving up the "queen bee" position she held in Serena's absence. She also fears losing Nate to Serena since they slept together before Serena left. Blair uses her charm, money and social status to get what she wants. Her father, once a lawyer, now lives in a French chateau with his boyfriend, Giles, and their adopted Cambodian twins, Ping and Pong. He shares a love of shoes with Blair. He raised Blair under the impression that she deserves everything she wants. Her mother, Eleanor Waldorf-Rose, is a flaky society-hostess who married Cyrus Rose. Blair has a younger brother, Tyler; a stepbrother, Aaron, and a baby half-sister, Yale (named after the college Blair hoped to attend, making her a good luck charm). She has a turbulent relationship with Nate Archibald throughout the series, losing him to other girls several times, including Jenny Humphrey and Serena van der Woodsen. Blair now attends Yale University. She is portrayed by Leighton Meester in the TV series.