The Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevins

    This novel is the story of Naomi Porter, an adopted teen. At the end of summer, her best friend Will and her go to the high school to work on the yearbook, which they are co-editors for. Everything goes well until they forget the new (and expensive) camera inside the yearbook office. They decide to flip a coin to determine who will go back and get it. If Naomi had just went along when Will declared he would be heads, then maybe Will would have been the one to get the camera. He might have tripped down the steps and ended up in the emergency room not knowing what went on in his life for the past four years. He probably wouldn't know who his best friend was, why he liked the yearbook so much, or who he had a crush on. But, none of that happened because Naomi insisted on being heads.
    Naomi Porter is the protagonist in Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevins. As an orphan,  she does not like to be pitied and therefore is not very sympathetic. Naomi can be stubborn, but not unfair. Also she is introspective and very dedicated, especially to the school yearbook.
   Naomi gets a concussion and loses her memory, she spends a lot of time recovering and trying to remember the last four years of her life. Then, fed up with the frustrations of her complicated old life, she starts reinventing herself and filling the gaps in her mind with new memories-- even ignoring her old life when she eventually regains her memory. But, Naomi comes to realize that forgetting her past troubles will do no good and looks upon her initial accident as a fresh start to resolve old problems.
   Gabrielle Zevins did a wonderful job conveying the moral that you cannot ignore unfinished business and you must forgive and work out your messes, so you can move on.
   Naomi is most directly affected by her memory loss, she does not remember her feelings towards people or even the people themselves. Ace, her boyfriend from before the accident, also is affected because Naomi can't remember why she liked him, which leads to their breakup. Will was Naomi's best friend preceding her identity loss, but afterwards she doesn't know what is between them and can't understand his jokes or what he  likes so much about  the yearbook.  Overall,  Naomi  drifts away from her  old friends and acquaintances because she does not enjoy the way they remind her of what she doesn't have.
    Talking to her mother in the hospital and getting reintroduced to Rosa Rivera both make the divorce and Naomi's memory loss very prominent and tangible. Gabrielle Zevins combines these issues in each of the scenes so that Naomi has to vividly relive all her feelings as if the divorce just happened.
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