The Forgetting

Product Description From beloved author of Rook comes a brilliant and genre-bending exploration of truth and memory, love and loss in this remarkable story of a civilization that undergoes a collective forgetting. What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes. Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories -- of parents, children, love, life, and self -- are lost. Unless they have been written.In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence -- before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her. From School Library Journal Gr 8 Up—Every 12 years, the orderly city of Canaan undergoes the chaotic, bloody time known as the Forgetting. During these brief hours, people's memories are erased. If it were not for the books in which inhabitants are required by law to record the events of their lives, they would have no way of knowing what happened before the Forgetting, or even of knowing their names or who their families are. Nadia is different. She remembers. The next Forgetting is a few weeks away. The teen is determined to keep her family together and away from the ensuing anarchy, but how? As Nadia works to this end, she comes up with more questions than answers. Why is the supposedly benevolent head of the Council, Janis, having some people's houses ransacked? What happens when people write lies in their books, or their books are stolen? The glassblower's handsome son, Gray, says he wants to help Nadia, but can she trust him? When Nadia searches for the truth, it is more shocking than anything she could have imagined. This fantasy is a marvelous achievement. Cameron creates a world filled with chilling dystopian constructs while maintaining a sense that it is as solid and convincing as our own. Each scene plays out in cinematic clarity—from the pristine walls that encircle the city to the rising of the three moons, from the perpetually anguished face of Nadia's mother, who remembers pain but no facts, to the labyrinthine underground lair where Nadia discovers the truth. VERDICT This excellent work belongs in every collection.—Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC Review Praise for The Forgetting:An Autumn 2016 Kids' Indie Next List selection* "Effective worldbuilding and strong characterization . . . A well-crafted fable for our time." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "This fantasy is a marvelous achievement." -- School Library Journal, starred review"[An] absorbing adventure." -- Publishers Weekly" The Forgetting is Sharon Cameron's fourth young adult novel, and she's grown adept at blurring the lines between fantasy, dystopian and science-fiction genres. Cameron reminds us, through Nadia's documented memories, that we must learn to appreciate the truth as much as question it, exploring the morality tucked within the fallacy of memory." -- Bookpage, Top Pick Praise for Rook:A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selectionAn Indiebound Indie Next Top Ten selectionWinner of the Parents' Choice Gold Award "The suspense kicks right off in this action-packed tale, quickly wrapping readers up in the drama." -- Romantic Times"Full of derring-do and double crosses, this romantic adventure is thoroughly engrossing." -- Kirkus Reviews"Cameron crafts a brilliant homage to The Scarlet Pimpernel yet also manages to make her te