Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac - Gabrielle Zevin

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc: London, 2007.

Sometimes for Silent Reading in class, I don't have a book in mind, so pick up something random, just to be able to role-model. Sometimes those books 'grip me' enough that I carry on reading them until they make it on this list.

This is one of those books.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac starts, appropriately, with the protagonist Naomi Porter awakening to realise that she has four years worth of amnesia, following a bad fall down some icy steps. She is now 16, and 'feels' 16, but can't recall anything since she was 12... including the fact that her parents are divorced, or the fact that she has learned to drive, or that she has a boyfriend. There is no guarantee that she will ever get her memory back, and so she must begin picking up the pieces and figuring out who she has become, as well as if she still wants to be the person she has become.

Naomi is quite easy to relate to, even when she makes decisions that (as the reader) we do not always agree with. The story does a good job of showing how uncomfortable she is with some of the decisions she has made in life, and - as she begins to re-decide certain things - shows why she makes the choices she makes.

Being a high-school drama, there are of course a number of potential love-interests for her to relate to. Firstly, her current boyfriend, Ace, who is a sporto (tennis) and seems mostly to like Naomi because she is "hot and smart." Secondly, the 'bad boy' who found her after her fall, James; he has some emotional issues but the two bond over their pasts, or lack thereof. Thirdly, Will, her nerdy, sensitive, thoughtful friend who is co-editor of the yearbook along with Naomi, and who cares for Naomi deeply.

Who will she end up with?! Perhaps you can guess!

Nevertheless, the story is well-told, and zigs a few times when a zag might be expected. I read it easily.

Aside from a few moments when sex is mentioned or suicide is discussed (only in past tense, but with a few details outlined a little well) the book is appropriate reading, and could be recommended for students to read. I'm not the target audience, but still enjoyed it for what it was.

Completed 28 August 2026.

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