Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiacby Gabrielle Zevin

In her imaginative second novel, an unusual love story, the highly acclaimed author of  Elsewhere offers a unique exploration of teenage identity and self-discovery. The heroine, a teen who is forced to re-invent herself and reconstruct her life after she suffers a head injury that leaves her with a four-year memory loss, grapples with many issues teens will find familiar: romance, changing friendships, and a dysfunctional family. But this teen s amnesia gives her the perspective to see herself and others clearly for the very first time. At times funny and always thought provoking, this tale effectively touches upon themes of chance, loss, and choice, in a moving story readers won t soon forget. (goodreads.com)

I seriously enjoyed elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin and I had always wanted to pick up other books by her. Sadly, I never did. Happily, a friend sent me Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac as a gift a while back and told me I would love it. It took me a while before I picked it up. Contemporary/emotional fiction and I haven't really been on speaking terms for the past year and I am trying to fix that. Part of it is that I am trying very hard to read all the books I have piled up and never got to. Part of it is that right now I feel like I NEED that emotion I have been hiding from for a year.I wasn't sure what to expect when I first opened the book and was happily drawn into Nomi's story. I enjoyed her voice in the narration and I enjoyed her journey in trying to figure out who she was.In a way, I sort of feel like having a break from your memories for a while might be a blessing. It's a chance to start fresh and change the way you view the world. Would you forget your new self once those memories come back though? I am curious about that. Nomi didn't, and she was certainly a changed person once she regained her memory, but I think it was for the better. Nomi's amnesia was almost a ticket to travel to the past and start on a blank page.One scene really stood out for me and oddly, it didn't have much to do with the actual plot of the story. Near the end, Nomi, her father Rosa are watching a nature program about porcupines and well, the entire scene made me laugh out loud. It was so unexpected and amusing that I even read it out loud to my husband (I now know way more about the mating habits of the porcupine than I ever did before!). This scene was just so off beat and off the path of the entire story that it really stuck out and stuck with me. I will always associate this book with the porcupine mating ritual now. Forever. It's just the way it is. So bizarre, I know, but something about that part of the book just solidified the entire novel for me.I also loved Nomi and James' idea to throw cameras down the steps where she fell to capture what it was like for her during the fall. I think that's a pretty nifty photo project, regardless of what the teacher said. ;)I am so happy I read this book. I  needed it. It was the right time for this book and my brain to meet.Zevin's next novel is all dystopian and I am so looking forward to that! I guess dystopian is the new zombie novel which was the new vamps & weres novel. I don't mind, I have a dystopian addiction. ;)