New Books Highlight: Forget-me-not
It looks like it’s going to be another gloomy weekend, and I know you’re in the middle of AP exams, all kinds of final projects, and the general mania of the last few weeks of school. You’re stressed to the max with everything you have to remember, so I propose you let go and dive into a book or three that deals with forgetting – whether accidental or forced.
Kyla has been marked as a teen terrorist, and dealt with in the horrible fashion her government deems fit. She’s been slated, as in, clean slate: her memory has been wiped clean. She must start from the beginning, relearning how to walk, talk, and be. This is Kyla’s last chance to reform so she’s instructed to be grateful. Fitted with a bracelet that monitors her every thought – and will kill her if she gets angry or violent – she finds she just can’t adjust to life as a Slated. She is different from the others – plagued by what she thinks are memories, memories that should have been erased. Meanwhile, innocent people are disappearing and it’s becoming harder to believe that only the dangerous get Slated.
Sneak Peek! “Weird. All right, I haven’t got much experience on which to base this judgment. I may be sixteen and I’m not slow or backward and haven’t been locked in a closet since birth – as far as I know – but Slating does that to you. makes you lacking in experience.” (Text copyright © 2012 Teri Terry)
What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Allie and her two best friends, Robbie and Kim, all suffer from a rare disease that makes them allergic to sunlight. They find their strength at night – the only time of day they can be outside and feel free. Rebelling against their confinement, the three start to practice the stunt sport of Parkour, bounding, climbing, jumping and scaling buildings and structures. They push each other harder, each longing to feel the danger of what they are doing. But one night they see something that Allie thinks is murder. Instead of forgetting like she should if she wants to stay out of harm’s way, she takes it upon herself to investigate what she saw. One of those thrilling books that will make you shout at the characters, “Don’t go in there!,” as you frantically turn pages.
Sneak Peek! “‘Don’t move and don’t scream too loud, no matter what you see,’ Juliet told Rob and me. ‘Promise? On pain of death?’ ‘I promise,’ I said readily. Rob shot me a furious glance. I forced myself to shrug with a chilly deadpan. What else was I supposed to do? Juliet was a force of nature.” (Text copyright © 2013 by Jacquelyn Mitchard)
Seraphina finds herself in a world she does not recognize. A world that is supposed to be her own. The lone – and unharmed – survivor of a massive plane crash, sixteen-year-old Seraphina has no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she survived what should have killed her. The only thread that seems to connect her to a life she was supposed to have lived is a boy who claims they were in love before she disappeared. How can she trust him when she has no memories? How can she forget him when he might be the only who can save her from those who want her to forget?
Sneak Peek! “The water is cold and ruthless, lapping against my cheek. Slapping me awake. Filling my mouth with the taste of salty solitude. I cough violently and open my eyes, taking in the world around me. Seeing it for the first time.” (Text copyright © 2013 by Jessica Brody Entertainment, LLC)
Shorewood Library Teens 