The Memory Book
A Heartbreaking YA Romance About First Love, Friendship, and Living in the Moment
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of Everything, Everything and Five Feet Apart, a bittersweet story of love and loss, told one journal entry at a time.
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. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime-crush Stuart, and where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood friend Cooper. The memory book will ensure Sammie never forgets the most important parts of her life-the people who have broken her heart, and those who have mended it. If Sammie's going to die, she's going to die living.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Samantha "Sammie" McCoy, 18, has big plans: win the National Debate Championships with her friend Maddie, become class valedictorian, attend NYU and law school, and become a human rights lawyer. These plans are derailed when she's diagnosed with Niemann-Pick, a terminal illness that will rob her of her memory and physical abilities before killing her. Through journal entries that Sammie writes to her future self, including occasional excerpts from text and email exchanges, Avery (Anything but Ordinary) crafts an emotionally charged story about a young woman who has kept her eyes trained on the future, only to learn that all she has is now. Determined to make the most of the time she has left, Sammie begins a relationship with her longtime crush and attempts to have "normal" teenage experiences like attending parties and getting drunk. Though the marketplace is crowded with stories of teens coping with serious illness, Avery's novel stands out for its strong characters, a heartbreaking narrative that shifts to reflect Sammie's condition, and a love story that will leave many readers in tears. Ages 15 up.
Customer Reviews
I’m not crying, you are
This is a beautiful book. There’s an intensity and urgency to it but also a lightness and innocence. Sweetness and sadness, hopeful and despairing. There’s a massive lesson in this book that we’ll all eventually learn when it’s too late. But maybe not? I hope not. Read this thing. You’ll see what I mean.