Loud Awake and Lost

September 30, 2013
Piecing together a teen’s forgotten past is the object of this mesmerizing romance set in the aftermath of a horrific car accident. The heroine, Ember Leferrier, who has suffered multiple injuries as well as amnesia, comes home from the hospital to family and friends who seem relieved that she’s back to her “real” self. Slowly, Ember gathers that she was not acting normally during the weeks before the accident and that a strange boy was also in the car, and didn’t survive. Mirroring the eerie atmosphere of Griffin’s Tighter, the novel traces Ember’s flashes of memory that draw her from her Brooklyn home to a darker place, where she meets and falls in love with a young artist. Keeping their relationship private causes Ember to act secretively, as she did before her accident, but if she can sort out her impulses to venture outside her safety zone, she might find the key to her memory loss. Astute readers may put together the puzzle before Ember does, but sorting hallucinations from reality is an intriguing and chilling mental exercise. Ages 12–up.

There's not a lot that Ember is certain about except that she barely survived a horrific car accident, and her passenger did not. After emergency surgery followed by eight months in a hospital, 17-year-old Ember arrives home with many visible scars, but the most troubling are those that don't show. Her memory is fragmented; some of her recollections of the crash and of her life before that fateful night are jumbled, while others are simply missing. She scans her bedroom for clues and finds a business card for a dance club called Areacode. In hopes it will shake loose a memory, Ember takes the subway to the club, where she meets Kai, a handsome, engaging artist to whom she is instantly drawn. Not wanting to worry her overprotective parents--or be hassled by them--Ember keeps their growing relationship under wraps. Something about the electrifying and elusive Kai allows Ember to be herself, to feel alive and ready to pursue her own dreams. Readers will feel right at home with the dialogue; sarcasm, glee and angst are spoken in pitch-perfect teenagese. That the story's emotional currents are weaker than the engaging narrative is no matter; Ember's unraveling of the mystery is compelling enough to keep the pages turning quickly and steadily. The startling conclusion itself is worth the ride, and chances are that readers' "aha" moment won't come any sooner than Ember's. (Mystery. 12 & up) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Ember has spent the last eight months in rehabilitation, recovering physically and emotionally from a near-fatal car accident. She can't remember the night of the event or the six weeks leading up to it. She has recovered enough, though, to return home to Brooklyn, New York, and resume her old life-now as a high school senior. Dr. P from the hospital explained that her memory loss is likely a function of her brain's natural defense mechanism, protecting her from traumatic memories while her body heals. Who was she before the accident? As Ember struggles to acclimate to life at home, negotiating the worries of her parents; her friendship with Rachel; and the attention of her ex-boyfriend, Holden, and of her new love interest, Kai, her memory slowly starts to return and the truth of who she was and where she was going that night become clear. Griffin has crafted a story with well-developed characters and a suspenseful plot that keeps readers turning pages. Her exploration of traumatic brain injury, in particular the role memory can play in the healing process, adds depth as well as potential points of entry for discussion.-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2013
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Two-time National Book Award finalist Griffin continues her exploration of the inner workings of the mind in this moving and surprising story. Ember was seriously injured in a car crash, but worse, she killed her passenger, a young man named Anthony. Along with brain trauma and back injuries, she has no memory of the six weeks prior to the accident. Eight months later, she returns from the rehab facility to her home in New York City. Friends and family are on eggshells, and Ember feels like she is in a slow-motion movie of her life starring someone else. Then she meets Kai, so free and different from her old friends, and he makes her want to wake up again. But what will she find when she does? Griffin's writing is exquisite, teasing meaning and memory from her sentences. Even in the smallest moments, she captures the incredible stamina it takes to rebound from a devastating accident, while at the same time showing how the injured can spin a protective cocoon. Ember and all the charactersparents, pals, an old boyfriendseem walk-through-the-door real. When the final twist arrives, readers may skip back through the pages to figure out why they didn't see it coming, but it doesn't negate the underpinnings of this emotional journey.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)