Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged socialite teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite private school in New York City's Upper East Side. The books primarily focus on best friends Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, whose experiences are among those chronicled by the eponymous gossip blogger. The novel series is based on the author's experiences at Nightingale-Bamford School and on what she heard from friends.

Serena Celia van der Woodsen Humphrey is a fictional character and the protagonist in the Gossip Girl novel series and in its TV adaptation, in which she is portrayed by Blake Lively. Serena is featured on the blog of the series' mysterious narrator, "Gossip Girl". Serena is known as the 'it girl of Manhattan' and is a character that appears to easily get whatever she wants because of her captivating beauty and charismatic personality. She is the daughter of a successful doctor, and a well known socialite/heiress.