The Carrie Diaries is a novel by the bestselling author of Sex and the City, Candace Bushnell. The story follows the main character, Carrie Bradshaw, as she finishes her senior year of high school in Castlebury, Connecticut, and makes her way to New York City. When a boy Carrie knew as a child, Sebastian Kydd, returns to complete his senior year in public school, Carrie picks up falling in love with him, which is what she felt the first time she saw him when she was twelve.

While Carrie's friends are one by one losing their virginity and moving from teenagers to adult experiences, Carrie retains her virginity. In the aftermath of her mother dying, Carrie struggles to help her two younger sisters grow and form them into the women that their mother would have wanted them to be.

The one thing that Carrie aspires to be is a writer. When the novel opens she has been rejected from the New School writing program. Throughout the novel, Carrie works on getting into the program. After experiencing heartbreak when her best friend Lali steals Sebastian Kydd from her, Carrie starts to write for the school newspaper under a pen name. The stories become wildly popular with the student body. In addition, Carrie submits the stories for consideration to the New School. When she receives her acceptance letter, Carrie embarks on her journey to spend the summer before her freshman year at brown in New York City.