More Book Club Selections
Book Picks by
Jenny McWha
- The Mo(u)rning Letters - Chapter 9
- WAKE, by Lisa McMann
- Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
- Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
- Smile, by Raina Telgemeier
- 4 Book Series by Megan Whalen Turner
- Darklight by Lesley Livingston
- Moving On Up - How to navigate the Bookstore
- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
- The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
- Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
- The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
- Blubber, by Judy Blume
- Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
- What I Saw and How I Lied, Judy Blundell
- Before Green Gables
- The Classics
- Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
- Cathy's Book, by Jordan Weisman and Sean Stewart
- Does my head look big in this? by Randa Abdel Fattah
- Ophelia, by Lisa Klein
- Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
BOOK REVIEW, February 2008, by Jenny McWha
memoirs
of a teenage
amnesiac
by Gabrielle Zevin
Imagine waking up in an ambulance with a strange boy beside you and blood on your head with no idea of how you got there. Imagine that while lying in a hospital bed you find out that your parents are divorced and your mother has a new family. Imagine that you don’t know your best friend, and you have no idea why in the world you are with your boyfriend.
Welcome to the life of Naomi, the heroine of Gabrielle Zevin’s newest book: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac.
THE GOOD: I was. I am. I will. The book is separated into these three simple parts. Yet they describe perfectly Naomi’s journey as she discovers who she was over the past few years, who she is after her accident, and who she wants to become. The reader is taken along her whirlwind journey of self-discovery, itching to learn who in the world this teenage amnesiac is, as well as the reason she fell down those stairs on that fateful day.
There is much to like in Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac. Every single one of Zevin’s characters have depths and layers upon layers that are utterly unexpected. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering what Naomi would find out about herself and those around her. The plot was interesting and unexpected: I never knew what was going to happen next. The writing was also gorgeous, and I found Naomi’s voice to be fresh and interesting. She isn’t popular, but she isn’t a total geek; she isn’t perfect, but she doesn’t have an excess of flaws.
DOWNSIDE: I really liked this book! However, if you’re not in the mood for romance and self-discovery, you may not want to pick it up. Some of the characters, especially Naomi, make weirdly irrational decisions that seem a little too un-lifelike to me. But I have no idea what I’d do if I suddenly woke up with amnesia!
I also found that Naomi can get a little selfish, but every character has to have flaws. It would also be interesting if Zevin had focused more on how it feels tobe suffering from amnesia, as it is often brushed aside.
GENRE: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is just regular old fiction with a nice helping of romance, a handful of drama, and just a dash of amnesia.
AGE: Nothing bad in here, but I’d say age twelve and up for some things that are mentioned. A definite two thumbs up from me!
OTHER BOOKS:
If you like Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, check out ‘Elsewhere’. It’s Gabrielle Zevin’s first book about a girl navigating the afterlife. Totally different, but still really good!
RATING: Two thumbs up
~Jenny
