What Would You Do?

What would you do to keep a loved one alive? How far would you go? Would you risk your own life? Would you give up everything?

THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX by Mary E. Pearson, Holt, 2008.

Seventeen-year-old Jenna is recovering from a serious accident. Her memory lapses are frustrating. She asks, “Why can I remember the details of the French Revolution but I can’t remember if I ever had a best friend?” What she learns about her existence is agonizing as well, bit by bit, bringing character to life and reader to the edge of her chair.

This futuristic novel will stay in your mind long after you read the last page. It stays in mine. It’s very different from two other futuristic YA novels I’ve read, FEED by M.T. Anderson and CANDOR by Pam Bachorz. All have different lessons to teach, or to ponder. Do we want a world like the one created for these characters? Do we want to take parts of these worlds and put them together for our own descendants? Or do we want to live in the world we create and stick around for centuries?

Toss this one into a group of teens for a lively discussion.