The Memory Book, by Lara Avery

Have you ever thought what it would be like to have a memory loss? I never thought about it until I read The Memory Book by Lara Avery. The author introduces to Sammie who suffers from Niemann-Pick Disease. I had to look up the disease and it's real!

Sammie is working towards being a valedictorian and practicing for debate tournaments; the next day, she receives a diagnosis that changes everything. She has NPC, a genetic disease that will slowly eat away her body and will cause her to forget everything and everyone. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be seventeen and to know that you may soon forget everyone you know.

This entire book is written kind of as a letter or journal. It's Sammie writing to herself so that she can look back and remember things. She still thought she could move away and go to college at NYU and become a lawyer. Sammie was a rare case because she didn't start manifesting symptoms until she was seventeen. It was good to see that she had such great determination. She was so focused and she didn't want to let anything get in the way of her plans. I'm also grateful that Sammie's family were so supportive especially her parents even though they fear for her life. They seem to want her to live her life, but at the same time they were terrified that she would forget she's in the middle of the street crossing.

This is a great read but it's incredibly heartbreaking and emotional! It's worth reading every word. *JK*

Gabi, a girl in pieces by Isabel Quintero

I read the whole book in one sitting, laughed out loud in several places and also shed a few tears :) Gabi’s journal, including illustrations and poems she writes for senior poetry class, is funny, wise and poignant as she draws the reader into the sometimes harsh but loving reality in which she lives. But reality it most definitely is - no Hollywood-ized glamorous life for Gabi in her Californian town. The use of Spanish and English phrases is seamlessly done and allows the reader to see how Gabi lives in two cultures at the same time, while not quite fitting into either. Moving and thoughtful, Gabi is a great female character, always working hard to reach her goal of going to college,that is if Mami allows her to leave home... (Recommended for older teens due to mature content.)SM