MEMOIRS OF A TEENAGE AMNESIAC
Gabrielle Zevin
Square Fish
Fiction
Hardcover: 9780374349462
Paperback: 9780312561284
304 pages

• About the Book
• Read a Review
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview -- September 2007

The book opens with Naomi in an ambulance with amnesia. As Naomi is discovering who she is, so are you: as she is now, who she has been in the past, and who she wants to be. Focus on some of the things she discovers about her life over the past few years: some of them feel right, such as her friendship with Will; some startle her, such as her mother’s remarriage; some mystify her, such as her relationship with Ace.

1. Build a profile of Naomi pre-amnesia.

2. Describe some of the “watershed” moments for Naomi --- times when she does not act like the girl she was --- for example, when she cuts her hair or quits yearbook. How are the actions defining who she will become?

3. Amnesia gives not only Naomi a second chance but also others in her life. Pick a character and examine how Naomi’s amnesia affects his/her life.

4. Why is the fact that Naomi is an orphan important? How does the author weave this theme throughout the story?

5. Explore the symbolism of Naomi’s being found as a baby in a typewriter case. How else are typewriters and books relevant to her story?

6. Photography is a recurring motif. How does it enrich the story?

7. Discuss the role of music throughout the book.

8. Compare and contrast Naomi and James.

9. Examine the scene in which Naomi’s memory returns. Why is it significant that it is the French word for camera that seems to open the floodgates? Why are the two memories Naomi recounts --- and the individuals they involve --- pivotal?

10. Read the prologue again. Speculate: Would Naomi have made some of the same choices/charges if she had not experienced amnesia?

11. What would you do with a second chance?

© Copyright 2009. Reprinted with permission by Square Fish. All rights reserved.

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