Keep Forgetting - The Cinematics

Memento Nora
Memento Nora, Book 1

Author: Angie Smibert
Pages: 184
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Brief Summary:
On a completely ordinary day, Nora goes out shopping with her mother. Terrorists attack the mall, and Nora witnesses the death of a man. This is the first time she has ever needed to go to the TFC (Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic), where she will be given a pill that will remove the trauma of the memory. While there, she meets a boy who refuses to take the pill and, upon learning a dark secret about her mother, decides to abstain as well.

Review:
The dystopian world in which Memento Nora is set is not too different from the world of today. The technology, aside from the pills and phones with even better technology, does not seem to far out of the realm of today's capabilities. This one reminds me most of Uglies, because of the slang, and Little Brother for the contemporary setting.

My favorite thing about Memento Nora was the focus on comics, and the power the written word can have. I love that the teens are creating this comic strip to help remember, to make a difference in their little community. Creating a newspaper or a pamphlet is an age-old method of rebellion. Here, it's just been moved into new methods.

The characters were pretty decent. I really liked getting to see from perspectives of Nora, Micah and Winter. However, it would have been nice to have their sections be a bit more balanced. Most of the chapters are from Nora's POV, even though she does the least from the comic-making perspective.

Given the short duration of the book and the pretty easy languages, this would be a good title for middle grade or reluctant readers, especially those into art. I am certainly looking forward to the sequel, The Forgetting Curve, which will be published by Marshall Cavendish this May.

Rating: 3/5

"The street's on fire
They'll push you down again, oh
Something I keep forgetting"