The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Books Completed: 79
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 272
Publication Date: April 2008

Reason for Reading: Dewey's Challenge, New Author Challenge

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?This fascinating novel represents a stunning new direction for acclaimed author Mary Pearson. Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. Mary Pearson's vividly drawn characters and masterful writing soar to a new level of sophistication.

Dear Dewey,

I am pretty sure that I can date the wanting to read this book back to you. I am so glad that I did because I loved this book! It was very much the sort of read that I enjoy, so thank you for the recommendation, even if it took another review for me to actually get around to getting it! When you reviewed the book you answered questions from Alessandra in a mini-review.

1) What does the title (The Adoration of Jenna Fox) really mean? Who adores Jenna? Or maybe is Jenna adoring someone/something?
- The problem with these questions is that I really cannot think of anything different to say... So, I guess I will just be repetitive. So, anyway, we are both in agreement that it is Jenna's parents that adore her. This becomes more and more apparent as the story plays out. I like how you went on to talk about words:

Since she lost her memory after an accident, she frequently looks up words. This serves a couple purposes. First, the character will keep using words she looks up later in the book, showing in a way how she has to use repetition to learn new things you might expect a girl of seventeen to have mastered. Second, it shows the reader, at times, some of the more obscure meanings of certain commonplace words. Adoration is not just the noun for the verb adore, to love, but can also be a religious term, mean a demonstration of worship.

If I had reviewed this book back in March, I might have thought to mention that, but it has been like a month since I read this book and it is not very fresh in my mind! Isn't it interesting how we don't really always understand the words we are saying? They just become common words and when people ask you what they mean, I know that I can't always give a very good definition. For 'adoration', I could easily see myself saying, well, 'it means to adore'! Yep, you would never know I have a degree in English!

2) What’s interesting about the main character of Jenna?
-I really enjoyed watching Jenna discover who she was all over again. This book is a bit obvious, but at the same time it is a mystery. We don't really know who Jenna is, so we are figuring it out as Jenna does. It makes the book a page-turner! Jenna is in essence discovering who she is all over again! I like how you summed it up:

There are more interesting facets to this character that I can’t really even approach without spoilers. So I’ll just say this is a novel full of surprises, suspense, and the potential for spoilers.

What she said!

3) How does the author bring about the theme of recovering lost memories?
- Like I said above, this book is a bit obvious, but at the same time it is a mystery. We learn about Jenna as Jenna learns about herself, and the author handles things really fresh. I like that you agree with me, so I am just going to steal your paragraph:

This isn’t your typical recovering-lost-memories novel. Jenna does gradually remember some things, especially events her parents don’t expect her to remember. One thing that is typical is that the biggest, most important (to her) memory of all is recovered toward the end of the book. Jenna experiences flashbacks now and then, and gradually memory fragments become whole.

To sum up, I loved this book! I don't even know if I know why I did, but it was really one of my favourite reads of the year so far. I am so happy that I got it from the library, but now I of course want to own it! You considered it one of your favourite books published in 2008, so I think we are in agreement! I really enjoy these letters. I hope you do, too!


Until next time...