"Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac" by Gabrielle Zevin

Wow. Long time no post, eh? Anywho...

It all starts in late August of her junior year. They flip a coin to choose who goes back to get the yearbook camera, and Naomi chooses heads. The next thing she knows, she's lying in an ambulance with a boy who says she fell down the stairs. But she doesn't remember doing that. In the hospital, she slowly comes to realize that she can't remember anything from age twelve and onward – four years lost. She can't remember why she likes her hot jock boyfriend, Ace. She can't remember why her best friend, Will, calls her Chief. She can't remember her mother's affair, her father's fiancée, or even how to drive.

But in forgetting, Naomi becomes herself. In a small way, this is a story about rebelling against yourself, or who people thought you were. It's a love story; how she dumps Ace, falls in and out of love with the moody James, the boy from the ambulance, and how, near the end of the book, remembers a kiss from someone unexpected. It's a story of friends, how she re-befriends quirky Will, finds new friends in a school play, and finally befriends her half-sister, Chloe and forgives her mother.

An excellent book – different from Zevin's other book, Elsewhere (though you should totally read that one, too) it's deeper and darker in a shy way. The characters are flawed and touching, confused and thoughtful. I love how the whole book is interspersed with gifts from Will – CDs that he burns and gives to Naomi to try and help her remember her old self. A definite 8 out of 10 waves!

– Cassandra