Lucy Miller’s family has the unique ability to remove people’s painful memories—but Lucy isn’t prepared for truths she will uncover in this twisty speculative thriller, perfect for fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Neal Shusterman.\
People come from everywhere to forget. At the Memory House, in Tumble Tree, Texas, Lucy’s father can literally erase folks’ heartache and tragic memories. Lucy can’t wait to learn the family trade and help alleviate others’ pain, and now, at sixteen, she finally can. But everything is not as it seems.\
When Lucy practices memory-taking on her dad, his memory won’t come loose, and in the bit that Lucy sees, there’s a flash of Mama on the day she died, tinged red with guilt. Then Lucy wakes up the next morning with a bruised knee, a pocketful of desert sand, and no memory of what happened. She has no choice but to listen to Marco Warman—a local boy she’s always wondered about, who seems to know more than he should.\
As Lucy and Marco realize there are gaps in their own memories, they team up to fill in the missing pieces—to figure out what’s really going on in their town, and to uncover their own stolen history along the way. But as the mysteries pile up one thing becomes certain: There are some secrets people will do anything to keep.\
From School Library Journal\
Gr 8 Up-In the dry-as-dust town of Tumble Tree, TX, Lucy Miller's father practices a mysterious family trade: removing memories from grief-stricken travelers. As Lucy begins to learn the business of taking memories, flashes of guilt and frightening recollections start to haunt her and her friends. Why doesn't Lucy remember her mother's death? Or anything at all about Marco, a boy she has known all her life? As memory turns to mystery, the citizens of Tumble Tree face a reckoning. Fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not will recognize the theme of lost memories found and the power of memories have over the soul. This YA thriller is an excellent introduction to speculative fiction. Stokes breaks down complex emotions, such as grief and guilt, and makes them accessible to young adult readers. The author is on shakier ground, however, when exploring mental illness as a consequence of altered memories; those passages should be taken with a grain of salt. VERDICT The narrative is compelling and plot-driven. Avid readers may find themselves staying up late to finish the story.-Jennifer Townesα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Categories:

• Teen & Young Adult
  
  
  • Romance
    • Fantasy