The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan where life is structured and safe.  They're protected from the wilds outside the city by their wall.

But every twelve years, comes the Forgetting -- a time of no consequences, no remorse, and no memories.  Everyone's memories of their entire life is lost during this time.  They don't remember their family, their past lives, or every themselves.

The only thing that saves them is their books in which they write down everything that happens to them and their lives every day.  It's the books that help them figure out their names, jobs, and families after the Forgetting.

There's just one problem . . . Nadia remembers.  She remembers the last Forgetting and her life before that.  She remembers her father cutting off her book and writing himself out of her family's lives.  She remembers the horrible things people did to each other.  She remembers and that remembering is going to cause trouble for her, her family, and Gray, the boy she has just started to love.



This book defies genre.  It seems like a simple dystopian fantasy at the start.  However, it quickly takes turns into other genres, seamlessly blending them together.  Nadia is a great character.  Although scared of attachment, she gradually breaks through her own walls to start letting in others.  The villain is well hidden until the dramatic reveal.  This is a great book for all teens to read.