Derek Adler

Karen Myerson's boyfriend in Richard Lobinske's series, Falling Into College. He's a molecular biology major and Massachusetts native who's funding his college expenses through National Guard service. In "A Star for the Window", his unit was activated and sent to Afghanistan for a one-year deployment. While there, he was stationed at Camp Raptor.

During the events chronicled in "Broken Star", Derek (who has been promoted to Corporal) was seriously wounded during an insurgent attack in Afganistan and has been sent back to the United States because of his injuries. It was also revealed that Derek and Karen Myerson were secretly married before his departure in "A Star for the Window".

In "Arrivals and Returns", it was revealed that Derek had been promoted to Sargeant, and had been awarded the Silver Star for his actions in Afganistan.

First appeared in "Freshman Spread."

Trivia

 * In the out-of-continuity fic "A Legend of Rebirth", Derek is shown as a scientist skilled in cloning, as he (with the help of Karen) presents Daria with Night, a clone of Bump created after the cat's natural death at age eighteen.