The Memory of Light

by Francisco X. Stork

Overview

"When Vicky Cruz wakes up in the Lakeview Hospital Mental Disorders ward, she knows one thing: After her suicide attempt, she shouldn't be alive. But then she meets Mona, the live wire; Gabriel, the saint; E.M., always angry; and Dr. Desai, a quiet force. With stories and honesty, kindness and hard work, they push her to reconsider her life before Lakeview, and offer her an acceptance she's never had. But Vicky's newfound peace is as fragile as the roses that grow around the hospital. And when a crisis forces the group to split up, sending Vicky back to the life that drove her to suicide, she must try to find her own courage and strength. She may not have them. She doesn't know. Inspired in part by the author's own experience with depression, The Memory of Light is the rare young adult novel that focuses not on the events leading up to a suicide attempt, but the recovery from one -- about living when life doesn't seem worth it, and how we go on anyway."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545634021
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/26/2016
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Francisco X. Stork (he/him) emigrated from Mexico at the age of nine with his mother and his adoptive father. I Am Not Alone is his tenth novel. Other novels include: Marcelo in the Real World, recipient of the Schneider Family Book Award, The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, which received the Elizabeth Walden Award, The Memory of Light, recipient of the Tomás Rivera Award, Disappeared, which received the Young Adult Award from the Texas Institute of Letters and was a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor Book and Illegal, recipient of the In the Margins Award, the Young Adult Award from the Texas Institute of Letters and the International Latino Book Award. On the Hook published in 2021, received four starred reviews and was the recipient of the International Latino Book Award.

Read an Excerpt

From The Memory of Light:"What happened, mi niña? Why you do something so horrible? Something happen in school?""No, no." "Do you miss your mamá? I miss her too. Your mamá wouldn't want you to do this.""I know," I say, rubbing my eyes with my hands. "Who hurt you, mi niña? Tell me.""No one, Nana, no one hurt me. It just hurts inside, I don't know why.""Is it Barbara? Is that what happen?""No . . ." I have no answers to these questions, no explanations that make any sense. I feel my head shrinking, tightening with pressure, as if I were taking an exam in a foreign language on a subject I never even knew existed. "She okay. She tries. She needs learn to smile. So serious always. But she not bad inside. Your father, he loves you also. They sometimes confused about how to love. But they okay."It is so painful to hear Juanita's voice. Why? "Nana, I have to go. I wanted to let you know I'm okay. This thing I did. Taking the pills. It doesn't mean I don't love you.""I know that, my niña, I know. I no never have doubts. Don't worry. I be here waiting for you. Diosito didn't want you to die." "I have to go now, Nana.""Don't cry, my little baby. Everything okay. You see."The call ends. I lie there for I don't know how long, my hand on the telephone, as if I'm afraid to let go of the voice that flowed through it. It is possible, I realize, to have people in your life who love you and who you love, and to still want to kill yourself. It's almost as if part of the reason you're doing it is for them, because you are not worthy of their love, and you want to stop being a burden to them, contaminating their lives with your moodiness and grumpiness and miserableness. I feel Juanita's love now. And it makes me feel so much worse.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Memory of Light:* "Stork further marks himself as a major voice in teen literature by delivering one of his richest and most emotionally charged novels yet." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "Stork writes sensitively about Vicky's journey from near death to shaky recovery . . . . A subject that needs the discussion Stork's potent novel can readily provide." — Publishers Weekly, starred review* "Accurate, heartbreaking, and hopeful . . . . A beautiful read." — School Library Journal, starred review* "Undeniable emotional strength and an encouraging, compassionate message. Stork writes his characters with authenticity and respect . . . . Highly rewarding." — Booklist, starred reviewPraise for Marcelo in the Real World:"[A] brisk, brilliant, unsentimental novel." — Robert Lipsyte, New York Times Book Review* "Stork introduces ethical dilemmas, the possibility of love, and other 'real world' conflicts, all the while preserving the integrity of his characterizations and intensifying the novel's psychological and emotional stakes. Not to be missed." — Publishers Weekly, starred review* "It is the rare novel that reaffirms a belief in goodness; rarer still is one that does so this emphatically." — The Horn Book Magazine, starred reviewPraise for The Last Summer of the Death Warriors:* "Stork's latest marks him as one of the most promising young adult authors of the new decade." — The Horn Book, starred review"Complicated yet ultimately endearing characters are a Francisco Stork standard. His latest novel doesn't disappoint." — Chicago Sun-Times

From the Publisher

Frankie Corzo's delivery is beautifully suited to Stork's spirited narrator and strong characters in this story of loss, hope, and fighting for yourself in trying times. After Vicky Cruz attempts to end her life, she finds herself in the Mental Disorders Ward of Lakeview Hospital. Electing to stay and seek treatment, Vicky soon meets people who accept her as she is, and finds a strength and determination she hadn't thought possible. Through Corzo's characterizations, listeners will meet bubbly Mona, gruff E.M., kind Gabriel, and steadfast Doctor Desai, all of whom have wisdom to share. Varied pacing expertly captures the contrast between time spent in and out of treatment. Corzo is at once somber and hopeful, her words gently tugging listeners towards the story’s resolution. K.S.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

MAY 2016 - AudioFile

Frankie Corzo's delivery is beautifully suited to Stork's spirited narrator and strong characters in this story of loss, hope, and fighting for yourself in trying times. After Vicky Cruz attempts to end her life, she finds herself in the Mental Disorders Ward of Lakeview Hospital. Electing to stay and seek treatment, Vicky soon meets people who accept her as she is, and finds a strength and determination she hadn't thought possible. Through Corzo's characterizations, listeners will meet bubbly Mona, gruff E.M., kind Gabriel, and steadfast Doctor Desai, all of whom have wisdom to share. Varied pacing expertly captures the contrast between time spent in and out of treatment. Corzo is at once somber and hopeful, her words gently tugging listeners towards the story’s resolution. K.S.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

MAY 2016 - AudioFile

★ 2015-10-14
After a failed suicide attempt, 16-year-old Vicky Cruz wakes up in a hospital's mental ward, where she must find a path to recovery—and maybe rescue some others. Vicky meets Mona, Gabriel, and E.M.—a clan very different from Vicky primarily because of their economic limitations—at Lakeview Hospital. There, with the guidance of their group-therapy leader, Dr. Desai, they daily delve into deep-seated issues that include anger management, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, and schizophrenia. Beyond the hospital walls, Vicky's school friends amount to zero, and her future plans are difficult to conjure. Vicky has a flawed family: Becca, her Harvard-student sister, has grown distant; Miguel, her temperamental first-generation father, married Barbara only six months after Vicky's mother died of cancer; and collectively the two are sending Vicky's longtime nanny, Juanita, back to Mexico. A quick first-person narration guides readers through the complexity of Vicky's thoughts and, more importantly, revelations. From her darkest moments to welcome comedic respites to Emily Dickinson's poetry, Stork remains loyal to his characters, their moments of weakness, and their pragmatic views, and he does not shy away from such topics as domestic violence, social-class struggles, theology, and philosophy. Following Schneider Award-winning Marcelo in the Real World (2009), Stork further marks himself as a major voice in teen literature by delivering one of his richest and most emotionally charged novels yet. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews