Zevin, Gabrielle.
MEMOIRS OF A TEENAGE AMNESIAC
New York : Farrar, Straus Giroux, 2007
IL YA
ISBN 0374349460

(3 booktalks)

Just a luck of the draw.  Just a flip of the coin.  And now Naomi can't remember anything.  A fall down the stairs as she went to get the yearbook camera has left her with no memory of her life after 6th grade.  No memory of her boyfriend.  No memory of her parents' split.  No memory of a half sister.  What would you do?  Naomi searches for her past as she tries to come to terms with her present.  What would you do if you had a chance to totally reinvent yourself?

Booktalk #2

At the end of the summer, right before school opens, 16-yr-old Naomi takes a header down the steps and loses not just her balance, but her memory as well. She wakes up in the hospital to discover her cognitive skills are normal, but she remembers nothing about the last four years of her life. And a lot has happened in those four years! All of seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth grades are a complete blank. Naomi learns some things about herself from her best friend, Will. (The two of them are the dedicated co-editors of the school yearbook.) Will informs Naomi that she has a steady boyfriend named Ace, who’s a star tennis player. But even when she sees the handsome Ace, Naomi doesn’t remember him, or anything about their relationship. When she gets home from the hospital, Naomi goes through her room to find things that will help her piece together her past. In her nightstand drawer she finds birth control pills. Yikes! What could that mean? She also finds a diary, which unfortunately turns out to be a food diary. A food diary?! Naomi wonders what sort of person keeps a diary of everything they’ve eaten over the past six months? She begins to question the person she was before her accident. If you’ve ever entertained the idea of being able to have a “do over” in life, you’ll enjoy Naomi’s unique situation as she gets reacquainted with herself and begins to create a new future.
This book is funny and poignant, and a quick, enjoyable read!  (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Awards nominee, 2008-2009)

Booktalk #3

At the end of the summer, right before school opens, Naomi takes a header down the steps and loses not just her balance, but her memory as well. She wakes up in the hospital to discover her cognitive skills are normal, but she remembers nothing about the last four years of her life. And a lot has happened in those four years! All of seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth grades are a complete blank. Naomi learns some things about herself from her best friend, Will. (The two of them are the dedicated co-editors of the school yearbook.) Will informs Naomi that she has a steady boyfriend named Ace, who’s a star tennis player. But even when she sees the handsome Ace, Naomi doesn’t remember him, or anything about their relationship. When she gets home from the hospital, Naomi goes through her room to find things that will help her piece together her past. In her nightstand drawer she finds birth control pills. Yikes! What could that mean? She also finds a diary, which unfortunately turns out to be a food diary. A food diary?! Naomi wonders what sort of person keeps a diary of everything they’ve eaten over the past six months? She begins to question the person she was before her accident. If you’ve ever entertained the idea of being able to have a “do over” in life, you’ll enjoy Naomi’s unique situation as she gets reacquainted with herself and begins to create a new future.  (Rhode Island Teen Book Awards, 2008-09)