Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac: A Novel

by Gabrielle Zevin

Overview

From the New York Times best-selling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin's Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is an imaginative YA novel all about love and second chances.

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn't have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn't have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn't have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia.

She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her "Chief." She'd get all his inside jokes, and maybe he wouldn't be so frustrated with her for forgetting things she can't possibly remember.

She'd know about her mom's new family. She'd know about her dad's fiancée. She wouldn't have to spend her junior year relearning all the French she supposedly knew already. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her.
She wouldn't have wanted to kiss him back.
But Naomi picked heads.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312561284
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	06/23/2009
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	410,405
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Gabrielle Zevin is the author of many popular books for teens, including Elsewhere, Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, and In the Age of Love and Chocolate, the final novel in the Birthright trilogy. Her novels for adults are Margarettown, The Hole We’re In, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. She was also the screenwriter for Conversations with Other Women, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Zevin is a graduate of Harvard University. After many years on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, she recently moved to Silver Lake, Los Angeles.

Hometown:

New York, New York

Date of Birth:

October 24, 1977

Place of Birth:

Poughkeepsie, New York

Education:

A.B. in English and American Literature, Harvard College, 2000

Website:

http://www.fsgkidsbooks.com/elsewhere

Read an Excerpt

“Are you Ace?” I asked, remembering what James had said about my having a boyfriend.
Will removed his black rectangular-framed glasses and wiped them on his pants, which were gray wool like James’s had been. I would later learn that removing his glasses was something Will did when embarrassed, as if not seeing something clearly could in some way distance him from an awkward situation. “No, I most definitely am not,” he said. “Ace’s about six inches taller than me. And also, he’s your boyfriend.” A second later, Will’s eyes flashed something mischievous. “Okay, so this is deeply wrong. I want it on the record that you are acknowledging that this is deeply wrong before I even say it.”
“Fine. It’s wrong,” I said.
“Deeply—”
“Deeply wrong.”
“Good.” Will nodded. “I feel so much better that you don’t remember him either. By the by, your man’s a dolt not to come.”
“Dolt?” Who used dolt?
“Tool. No offense.”
“Leave. Right now,” I said in a mock stern tone. “You go too far insulting Ace . . . What’s his last name?”
“Zuckerman.”
“Right. Zuckerman. Yeah, I’m really outraged about you insulting the boyfriend I don’t remember anyway.”
“You might be later and if that’s the case, I take it all back. Visiting hours only started a minute ago, so he’ll probably still come,” Will said, by way of encouragement I suppose. “If it were my girlfriend, I would have been waiting outside before visiting hours.”

Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

The book opens with Naomi in an ambulance with amnesia. As Naomi is discovering who she is, so are you: as she is now, who she has been in the past, and who she wants to be. Focus on some of the things she discovers about her life over the last few years: some of them feel right, such as her friendship with Will; some startle her, such as her mother's remarriage; some mystify her, such as her relationship with Ace.
1. Build a profile of Naomi pre-amnesia.
2. Describe some of the "watershed" moments for Naomi--times when she does not act like the girl she was--for example, when she cuts her hair or quits yearbook. How are the actions defining who she will become?
3. Amnesia gives not only Naomi a second chance but also others in her life. Pick a character and examine how Naomi's amnesia affects his/her life.
4. Why is the fact that Naomi is an orphan important? How does the author weave this theme throughout the story?
5. Explore the symbolism of Naomi's being found as a baby in a typewriter case. How else are typewriters and books relevant to her story?
6. Photography is a recurring motif. How does it enrich the story?
7. Discuss the role of music throughout the book.
8. Compare and contrast Naomi and James.

9. Examine the scene in which Naomi's memory returns. Why is it significant that it is the French word for camera that seems to open the floodgates? Why are the two memories Naomi recounts--and the individuals they involve--pivotal?
10. Read the prologue again. Speculate: Would Naomi have made some of the same choices/charges if she had not experienced amnesia?
11. What would you do with a second chance?

Editorial Reviews

Zevin is completely convincing on the intensity of early passion and the way it can evaporate in the rays of something new, and she has a light touch with the deceptively shallow anguish of adolescence.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Sensitive, joyful . . . Pulled by the heart-bruising love story, readers will stop to contemplate irresistible questions.” —Booklist, Starred Review

“Zevin is just a great writer. . . . [She] gets all the details right.” —The San Francisco Chronicle

“Zevin blends romance, changing friendships, and familial dysfunction with themes of chance, loss, and choice, and the result is a quiet exploration of identity and self-realization that is simultaneously thought provoking and entertaining.” —Voice of Youth Advocates

“Unique . . . Will be well received by teens.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Honest and complex characterization grounds a thoughtful, suspenseful examination of memory and identity.” —The Horn Book

“Zevin cooks up an entertaining love story . . . teens will identify with her vulnerability and her heightened feelings of alienation. And fans of psychological dramas won't want to put this book down.” —Publishers Weekly

“A compelling read with intelligent dialogue that's also touching and funny.” —School Library Journal

“I would definitely recommend this book to my high school students, especially teen girls.” —The ALAN Review

“A good read.” —Kathy Taber, Kids Ink Children's Bookstore, Indianapolis, IN

“This book seems to be really accurate about how teens think . . . very refreshing and a great read!” —A YALSA YA Galley Teen Reader

“Zevin, already a great author, has outdone herself.” —A YALSA YA Galley Teen Reader

“Zevin is a smooth and subtle stylist, creating particularly interesting characters here.” —The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books

“This was a memorable book. Naomi was a likable, realistic character.” —A YALSA YA Galley Teen Reader

“This book was hard to put down.” —A YALSA YA Galley Teen Reader

“It conveys a sense of normal teenage pressures, but also presents a unique story.” —A YALSA YA Galley Teen Reader

From the Publisher