Unremembered

February 4, 2013
Amnesiac genius “Violet” supposedly absorbs information without effort. Yet after five days in the hospital with nothing to do but watch TV, the 16-year-old emerges with no comprehension of what jeans, cars, malls, and supermarkets are. Violet may be supermodel beautiful, but her interactions are those of like Data from Star Trek. Picked up at the site of a plane crash, she is assumed to be a survivor and put in foster care while the authorities seek her family. Meanwhile, others are after her: a persistent, urgent boy who calls her “Sera” and a red-haired man, both of whom can find her with uncanny speed no matter where she goes. Brody’s (52 Reasons to Hate My Father) book unfolds at a too-leisurely pace in terms of action and emotional development, yet too quickly to make the “science” of Violet’s condition plausible. Her foster brother says, “I feel like I’m in a bad sci-fi movie,” and the lament is unfortunately accurate. There’s no opportunity to forget that Violet is an artificial construct in an artificial setting. Ages 12–up. Agent: Bill Contardi, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents.

February 15, 2013
What should a 16-year-old girl with no memories trust: her own instincts or the cryptic words of a boy who insists she knows him? Our heroine washes ashore when the book opens, apparently the sole survivor of a plane crash. Dubbed Violet by a nurse after her (yes, violet) eye color, she becomes a national news story and is quietly sent to a foster family in northern California when no one steps forward to identify her. The only person she meets who claims to know her is a boy who appears mysteriously when she's alone and warns her that she's in danger. Short, dramatic, present-tense sentences move the action forward, and the book's central questions (who is Violet? who is following her? when will she start believing the boy who is clearly the romantic lead?) provide plenty of suspense. Although the mysterious boy is more of an archetype than a character in his own right, Violet's 13-year-old foster brother Cody is pleasingly funny, suspicious and competent. There are intriguing sci-fi elements at play, but analytical readers will notice holes in the workings of genetics and the logistics of time travel. Fast-paced and sure to satisfy romance-oriented readers, if not skeptics. (Science fiction. 12-18)

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May 1, 2013

Gr 7-10-In this science-fiction mystery, Violet, 16, is found floating amid the wreckage of a plane crash with no memory of her life before the accident. A foster family has agreed to take her in until she regains her memories. Violet finds even everyday expressions and concepts to be maddeningly unfamiliar. The only clue to her identity is a locket with a cryptic equation inscribed on it. Soon a stranger named Lyzender arrives on the scene, claiming to know her. Violet feels drawn to him, but she is hesitant to trust the impossible story that he tells her. As she slowly discovers superhuman skills and knowledge that she cannot explain, however, the teen realizes that her real name is Seraphina and that she has no choice but to consider that what Lyzender is telling her is true. If it is, then she is in danger. Seraphina's strong voice, feeling of isolation, and desperate need to understand the world around her will ring true with teens. They will have a hard time putting this book down as they struggle to solve Seraphina's mystery alongside her. While other figures, such as Lyzender, are not well developed, the nonstop suspense and well-paced plot more than make up for what the story lacks in characterization. Hand this one to fans of romantic science fiction such as Jessica Khoury's Origin (Penguin), Lissa Price's Starters (Delacorte), or Rachel Cohn's Beta (Hyperion), all 2012).-Liz Overberg, Darlington Middle School, Rome, GA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2013
Grades 8-11 On takeoff from Los Angeles, Freedom Airlines flight 121 crashes. No one survives. But, as rescuers pull bodies from the ocean, they find a 16-year-old girl alive and unscathed save for complete amnesia. All names on the plane's manifest are accounted for, and no next of kin comes for her. Even the engraving on her locket (S+Z=1609) means nothing to her. Then a dark-haired young man appears to the girl and begins to talk to her. How does she know him? And why does she think she should trust him? So begins the gripping story of Seraphina (Sera) and Lyzender (Zen), as Sera struggles to learn or remember who or what she is, and they both attempt to escape those who would capture and destroy them. Short chapters and short paragraphs filled with abundant dialogue power the often harrowing action, punctuated along the way with Sera's snippets of memory. The first in Brody's new science-fiction series should snare enough attention to have folks tapping their feet for the sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)