★ 2016-04-13
A high school valedictorian with big plans to flee her small town gets a degenerative genetic disease.Two months ago, 18-year-old Sammie was diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C. People with NPC usually die as children; it's extremely rare for symptoms not to appear until adolescence, so Sammie's timeline is unknown. NPC brings dementia and systemic physical deterioration—as Sammie edits Wikipedia to say, "Your shit is fucked." To create a bulwark against memory loss, she documents her life on a laptop she carries everywhere, addressing it to Future Sam, who she still hopes can leave Vermont behind for NYU. Her narrative voice is sardonic, distinctive, wildly intelligent, and sometimes hilarious: her parents' church is "angular…and white, like most of its parishioners" (including her family, presumably). Sammie's first debacle is losing a national debate tournament due to a dementia episode smack in the middle. Fluctuations in cognitive function show in her narrative voice. She needs tooth-brushing reminder notes; she regresses in age and doesn't recognize her youngest sister. At one point she fills three pages typing "die." Yet over this summer that should have been pre-college, Sammie experiences romance, reconnects with a childhood friend and with her bucolic mountainside, and writes minibios about her young siblings that extend to their adulthoods, giving them the long futures that she won't have. Readers will feel her mind and heart shifting with the illness.Indelible. (Fiction. 14 & up)
★ 05/02/2016
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. Agency: Alloy Entertainment. (July)
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.—Adi Alsaid, author of LET'S GET LOST and NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES
Sardonic, distinctive, and wildly intelligent.—Kirkus Reviews
A love story that will leave many readers in tears.—Publishers Weekly
A story of self discovery that's hard to put down.—BOOKLIST
This book 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.—Emily Raymond, co-author of FIRST LOVE with James Patterson
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.—Geoff Herbach, author of STUPID FAST
A heart-rending and engrossing story. Excellent—Inis
Sam is a great central character. She's so driven and determined to succeed that she has ended up quite isolated....Part of Sam's Niemann Pick journey is coming to terms with this and mending some fences. So throughout the book, she blossoms as she fades and it's really tremendously touching...The format is clever: because it's Sam's journal and Sam's memory is disappearing, it's clear that a great deal is happening that we don't get to read about, only infer. Avery handles with this great delicacy and grace and this first person view of things makes the book genuinely moving without ever succumbing to the saccharine—The Bookbag
A deeply affecting novel full of straight-talking, sardonic humour. Ambitious, high achieving, socially awkward Sammie has just been diagnosed with Niemann-Pick, a disease that will gradually rob her memory before killing her. But Sammie is determined to fight ... With assured character development and a clear eye for realistic detail, Avery steers around the cliches of "sicklit" to create an original, memorable YA heartbreaker, with a complex, interwoven romance—The Guardian
My problem with YA is that the genre is so saturated. A couple of chapters into The Memory Book, I knew it could be a great book, but also knew it could easily sink into the depths of the YA genre never to be remembered. There are way too many books in YA that have the same "indie" vibe. The Memory Book doesn't really stand out from the rest of the masses.
I like the short chapters, and I liked Sammie. The romance... Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance, but I think it overwhelmed what was interesting about the story - Sammie's disease.
But I enjoyed this, it was a nice read.
—Jodie, Jodie's Reviews
Complex and emotional characters and the incredibly beautiful writing.—Paper Fury
The Memory Book is a very emotional story, and Sammie's voice hooked me in right away. It's one girl's fight to remain herself while her body intends to strip everything away from her. It's a very well written book about strength, pain and never giving up. About overcoming life's obstacles and rolling with the punches even if they keep coming. But most of all, it's a beautiful story that worms its way into your heart and tears you apart.—Yolanda Sfetsos, Yolanda Sfetsos blog
This book is such a delight to read!...It's heartbreaking but funny, interesting and entertaining, and it's easy to read in one sitting.—Jess Just Reads
Congratulations to Lara Avery on publishing on a novel that beautifully captured the precious moments in life that matter!—Stacey Kym, Twin Reads
★ 06/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Overachieving senior Sammie McCoy has her life clearly laid out. First, bring her debate team to victory at Nationals, then deliver her speech as valedictorian, and make the move to NYU to study economics and public policy before moving on to Harvard Law. Her plans get radically interrupted when she is diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C, a rare genetic disease that will initially affect her memory, rendering her vigorous studying moot, and that is ultimately fatal. Determined to fight the diagnosis, Sammie begins keeping a diary, figuring that when her memory fails her future self, she will have a way to reference her day-to-day life. Sammie's voice is a bright, relatable, and uncompromising one, and when her inevitable decline begins, readers will be surprised and pained by it, right along with the book's fiercely undeterred protagonist. Strengths abound in Avery's touching novel, and Sammie's relationships, both friendly and romantic, are no exception. Not knowing how to deal with the revelation of her illness, the teen's closest friend, Maddie, pushes her away, and the protagonist's relationships with gifted writer Stuart Shah and boy-next-door Cooper are intensified by her decline, in what feels like a genuinely complicated manner. VERDICT Fans of John Green's work and Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places will be reaching for the tissue box at the book's tear-inducing end.—Joanna Sondheim, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City
