Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jul 2016, 368 pages
Paperback:
May 2017, 368 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Bradley Sides
Buy This Book
They tell me that my memory will never be the same, that I'll start forgetting things. At first just a little, and then a lot. So I'm writing to remember.
Sammie McCoy is a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as possible. Nothing will stand in her way - not even the rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly steal her memories and then her health.
So the memory book is born: a journal written to Sammie's future self, so she can remember everything from where she stashed her study guides to just how great it feels to have a best friend again. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime-crush Stuart, a gifted young writer home for the summer. And where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood friend Cooper, and the ridiculous lengths he will go to make her laugh. The memory book will ensure Sammie never forgets the most important parts of her life - the people who have broken her heart, those who have mended it - and most of all, that if she's going to die, she's going to die living.
This moving and remarkable novel introduces an inspiring character you're sure to remember, long after the last page.
Excerpt
The Memory Book
If you're reading this, you're probably wondering who you are. I'll
give you three clues.
Clue 1: You just stayed up all night to finish an AP Lit paper on
The Poisonwood Bible. You fell asleep briefly while you were writing
and dreamed you were making out with James Monroe, the fifth
president and arbiter of the Monroe Doctrine.
Clue 2: I am writing this to you from the attic at the little circular
window, you know the one, at the east end of the house, where
the ceiling almost meets the floor. The Green Mountains have just
recently turned green again after a freakish late-spring dump of wet,
sloppy snow, and you can just barely see Puppy in the early dark,
doing his morning laps up and down the side of our slope in his
pointless, happy Puppy way. Sounds like the chickens need to be fed.
I guess I should do that. Stupid chickens.
Clue 3: You are still alive.
Do you know who you are yet?
You are me, Samantha Agatha McCoy, in the ...
The Memory Book has more than its share of pain, anger, and suffering, but it also has plenty of laughter, joy, and especially hope. It’s a novel that touches on the full spectrum of adolescent (and adult) emotions. Sammie’s story is special. It’s the kind of book that readers won’t want to put down and one that will be shared among groups of friends during these last weeks of summer...continued
Full Review
(616 words)
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by Bradley Sides).
Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and Never Always Sometimes
Things you will probably experience while reading this wonderful book: gut-wrenching hope, ugly-crying, the joy of finding beautiful moments in the midst of difficult times. Enjoy. Emily Raymond, co-author with James Patterson of First Love
Lara Avery's brilliant novel about a girl who learns that her life might be ending - just when it feels like it's finally getting started - will open your heart and very possibly break it. Fierce Sammie McCoy is an unforgettable heroine, and as soon as I closed this book, I started to miss her. I still do. Geoff Herbach, author of Stupid Fast and Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders
In Sammie McCoy, Avery has created a character that completely vibrates with energy. And Sammie's so wicked smart, you almost believe she will overcome everything. But that's not what this book's about. At some point possibility ceases to matter and Avery shows us to love all we already have. Such a moving read.A terminal diagnosis is difficult for any family to accept, but it's especially hard when the patient is a teenager. In Lara Avery's The Memory Book, Sammie McCoy is a bright and successful teen. She's going to a national debate tournament. She's her high school's valedictorian. She's going to NYU. Suddenly, though, Sammie begins to change. She has trouble remembering, and she can't control her body. Soon she is diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC), and her life takes an unexpectedly dark turn.
NPC (sometimes referred to less formally as "childhood Alzheimer's") is an especially cruel disease, even by terminal standards. According to the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation, the disease occurs when "patients are not able to ...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
If you liked The Memory Book, try these:
by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Published 2019
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson's epic tale - told through three unforgettable points of view - is a masterful exploration of how love, determination, and hope can change a person's fate.
by Joseph Jebelli
Published 2017
For readers of Atul Gawande, Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Henry Marsh, a riveting, gorgeously written biography of one of history's most fascinating and confounding diseases - Alzheimer's - from its discovery more than 100 years ago to today's race towards a cure.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The Stone Home
by Crystal Hana Kim
A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
