The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

What would you do if you one day woke up and couldn't remember a thing about yourself? Sure, you could remember the days of the week, your mother's birthday, and even a Shakespearean sonnet, but nothing about yourself.  This is exactly what happens to Jenna Fox.  One day, Jenna wakes up in a mind that she doesn't quite register with, in a body that seems just a little off.  She has no memories of the life she had before waking up, and was simply told that she was in a car crash a year ago and was lucky to be alive.  But Jenna doesn't feel very lucky as she stumbles around in her own mind trying desperately to put together pieces of her past. She tries to figure out why her parents won't tell her why they've moved from Boston to California, why her grandmother seems to hate her, the real reason behind her not being allowed to go to a real public school, when she'll get her memories back, and so many more questions about her past and current self.  In a suspenseful, twisted end, Jenna realizes exactly what her parents have been keeping from her...

I remember sitting down and reading this entire book in practically one sitting, only taking time to eat and give my brain a break (which just needs to happen sometimes with any book). I was absolutely hooked to Jenna and her story, and spent the whole time thinking about possible endings and secrets, and enjoying every minute of being inside Jenna's confused and conflicted head.  I also had a lot of fun guessing what time this book took place, and I decided that it's in the "not-so-distant future." Pearson did a wonderful job not giving the reader too in-your-face clues that this is definitely not the world we live in right now.  Jenna talks about new technology as if it's existed forever, and doesn't draw the reader's attention to the fact that we, as  readers, don't necessarily understand what she's talking about.  It's so refreshing to read a sci-fi novel that doesn't constantly have "HEY I'M GOING TO MENTION THIS THING THAT DOESN'T REALLY EXIST AND THEN EXPLAIN IT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY CONFUSED" and the like. I like figuring things out for myself. It's also refreshing to read a sci-fi novel that isn't in your face about how sci-fi it is. Thank you, Mary Pearson. Then there's the thoughtful (and frightening) exploration of identity without memories.  Who are we if not the lessons we've learned, and the memories we keep?

This is a suspenseful ride for teenagers fourteen and older (give or take). Pearson crafts a fantastic piece of work filled with hidden secrets that pull you every which way until finally presenting you with the powerful ending. After I was done reading, I just sat there and took a good twenty minutes to process what just happened.  It's a book that makes you think about the use of technology, medical ethics, identity, and where our world is heading when it comes to what humans are rapidly learning to do with science (and how frickin' scary that is).

"The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary Pearson has the Abigail T stamp of approval: this is legitimate young adult fiction.

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