Forgotten

by Cat Patrick Narrated by Julia Whelan

Overview

Every night, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can “remember” are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture.

Luke Henry is not someone you'd easily forget, yet try as she might, London can't find him in her memories of things to come. When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Memory is a tricky thing, but never more so than for high school junior London Lane, who must write notes to herself each night, so that when she wakes up with her memory wiped clean, she can be reminded of past events in her life. And the "memories" London does have (including a friend's disastrous relationship with a teacher and a mysterious funeral) are of the future. It's an ambitious premise, and first-time novelist Patrick doesn't quite pull it off. The underlying "rules" of London's condition are murky; she remembers her mother and best friend's identities, as well as her own (presumably drawing from future memories), yet even months into a relationship with gorgeous new student Luke, she doesn't remember him without her notes. More baffling is London and her mother's lack of concern about her condition. "I wouldn't say that you're broken," her mother tells her. "You're special." (Meanwhile, London is still walking into the wrong classrooms on the last day of school.) London's romance and the story's several mysteries may draw in readers, but the inconsistencies prove frustrating. Ages 12–up. (June)

From the Publisher

"Cat Patrick's debut won't be forgotten by readers. It's a page-turning mystery and a heartrending story of love, loss and...memories of the future. Don't miss this one."——Gail Giles, award-winning author of Dark Song and What Happened to Cass McBride?

"A captivating psychological drama, a toe-tingling romance and a completely original premise, Forgotten is full of twists and turns you won't see coming."——Daisy Whitney, author of The Mockingbirds, a 2011 ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults book

"Forgotten is a mind-bending experience that I devoured in one sitting. Cat Patrick's exciting and impressive debut still haunts me."—Jay Asher, New York Times bestselling author of Thirteen Reasons Why

Daisy Whitney

"A captivating psychological drama, a toe-tingling romance and a completely original premise, Forgotten is full of twists and turns you won't see coming."

Gail Giles

"Cat Patrick's debut won't be forgotten by readers. It's a page-turning mystery and a heartrending story of love, loss and...memories of the future. Don't miss this one."

Jay Asher

"Forgotten is a mind-bending experience that I devoured in one sitting. Cat Patrick's exciting and impressive debut still haunts me."

BookPage

"Forgotten is a thought-provoking debut novel and a glimpse at the mysteries of the brain. Experiencing London's dilemmas, readers can't help but ponder the importance of their own memories."

Justine Magazine

"Forgotten manages to be both a love story and a psychological suspense. It reminded us that the memories we share with the people we love are the most important ties that bind us together... Forgotten is unforgettable!"

PW

"With a bit of fantasy and lots of intrigue, Cat Patrick manages to capture her audience right from the start.... She has a nice, clear style of writing that will easily appeal to the young teenage group."

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—London Lane, 16, exists in a state of "remembering" her future but not her past. She has a highly structured life, using notes and messages to help her remember events both important and trivial, from her class schedule and homework to what she wore the day before. Only her mother and friend Jamie know London's unusual secret. Thus, despite her strange condition, she is a typical teenager who tries to stay under the radar at school. London's orderly life gets shaken when she meets Luke, a new student to whom she is immediately drawn. As she has no "future memory" of him, she expects he will not be an important part of her life. Then, as their relationship grows, the mystery of her memory condition deepens. With Luke's steadfast support and help, the strange circumstances that led London to forget the past rise to the surface. This unique tale is quirky and funny and simultaneously offers readers a romantic mystery with intrigue. Patrick has created true-to-life characters in London and Luke, yet places them in a newly imagined scenario. While readers may at times join the memory-impaired protagonist in her confused state, ultimately this fresh twist results in an enjoyable read.—Tara Kehoe, Plainsboro Public Library, NJ

Kirkus Reviews

Imagine forgetting yesterday but remembering tomorrow.

Patrick's high-concept debut falls flat. Each morning at 4:33, London Lane's mind resets, blanking out the past—but she "remembers" her future. Doctors have been unable to solve her condition, so London stumbles through life faking normal, aided by notes and her mother and best friend (both of whom she "knows," thanks to future memories). Every morning she must study her own life. Enter hot boy, but despite the growing relationship, London can't remember him from her future. Luke's inexplicable presence and a resurfaced actual memory set London on the trail of her own past, in which she discovers a tragic mystery. She conveniently remembers just enough to solve it, and it turns out there are happy endings all around, although only a weak "explanation" for London's ability to effectively see the future. The flat main character and awkward necessities of writing to accommodate future memories hinder the promising premise. Present-tense narration in an adult voice (perhaps because London remembers forward?) and a personality is based only on who she will be make empathy difficult. This is compounded by the discomfiting circular logic throughout (she is friends with Jamie because she will be friends with Jamie; readers will still wonder why).

Ultimately, it's a mess, but intense romance means some appeal. (Pseudo-paranormal romance/mystery. 12-16)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169233520
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/14/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Forgotten

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By Patrick, Cat

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Copyright © 2011 Patrick, Cat
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780316094610

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Friday

10/14 (Thurs.)

Outfit:

• —Straight-leg jeans

• —Navy tunic with the little flowers (wasn’t dirty— back in the closet)

• —Blister-inducing red flats

School:

• —Bring book for English

• —Get Mom to sign permission slip for History

• —Spanish quiz tomorrow (not on syllabus)

• —Read over History homework in the morning… too tired…

Notes:

• —Ate tons of carbs today. (Mom bought mint chocolate chip ice cream!) EXERCISE!

• —Ordered tights for Halloween

1

Aren’t Fridays supposed to be good?

This one started badly.

The note on my nightstand didn’t tell me anything useful. My eyelids wanted to stay closed; my favorite jeans were in the hamper; and there was no milk in the fridge.

Worst of all, my cell phone was dead: the shiny, candy red one that I’ll have until it falls into a gutter; the one that has the calendar and reminder bells and is essentially my portable, socially acceptable security blanket.

“You’ll be fine,” my mom said during the drive to school this morning.

“How do you know?” I asked. “I could have a huge math test today. There could be a school assembly that I won’t know about.”

“It’s just one day, London. You’ll be fine without your phone for one day.”

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered, looking out the window.

Now, right now, standing here, I have proof that my mom was wrong. I am not fine without my phone for one day.

Today is the day that I needed a new T-shirt for gym class. Had it not been dead, my phone, the phone my mom and I programmed together at the start of the year with important little reminders like this one, would have instructed me, in its tiny block lettering, to bring a shirt for Phys. Ed. today.

Therefore, today is the day I’m standing in gym shorts and my winter sweater, wondering what to do.

I can’t very well wear a sweater for basketball (which is what we’re playing, according to the board near the locker room door), so I ask Page if she has an extra top. We won’t ever really be friends, but she still responds overenthusiastically. “Sure, London, here you go. Forgot your clean shirt again, huh?”

Again?

I make a mental note to jot myself a real note later, while at the same time wondering why today’s note didn’t mention bringing a gym shirt.

Page interrupts my train of thought. She smiles and hands me a bright yellow oversized tee with a beaming cat on it that reads: HAVE A PURR-FECT DAY!

“Thanks, Page,” I grumble as I take the shirt from her and quickly put it on. It nearly covers the shorts—shorts!—that I’m already wearing. Why my locker contained shorts and not some other warmer, cuter piece of bottom-covering sportswear, I have no clue.

Note to self: add “bring pants” to note to self, too.

I feel like Page is watching me. I glance at her and, yep, she’s watching me. We exchange pleasant nods before I throw my street clothes into the locker, slam it, and head out to the gym.

As I walk, two thoughts run through my mind. First, I wonder whether Ms. Martinez will let me go to the nurse’s office for a Band-Aid to cover the painful heel blister that I can feel grating against my sneaker with every step. And, second, I can’t help but thank my lucky stars that only the twelve other hapless souls with first-period gym class will see me in this hideous ensemble.

Unfortunately for me, Ms. Martinez is a coldhearted woman.

“No,” she says, when I ask to go to the nurse’s office before the game begins.

“No?” I ask in disbelief.

“No,” she says again, black eyes daring me to argue. She holds her whistle at the ready.

I’m not stupid, so I don’t press the issue. Instead, I hobble back to the bench, join my teammates, and vow to play through the pain.

Then halfway through what I can only assume is the lowest-scoring basketball game in high school sports history, a noise ricochets through the echoing gym that all at once makes my arm hairs stand on end, my eardrums seize up, and my teeth chatter.

For a moment, I don’t know what’s going on.

Ms. Martinez waves her arms in the direction of the exit, and my classmates begin lazily walking toward the doorway.

That’s when I get it.

We are having a fire drill.

We, the students of Meridan High School, are going outside. All 956 of us. While I, London Lane, am sporting a bright yellow cat T-shirt that says HAVE A PURR-FECT DAY! and too-short shorts for the entire student body to enjoy.

Yep, it’s a good Friday indeed.

Continues...

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Excerpted from Forgotten by Patrick, Cat Copyright © 2011 by Patrick, Cat. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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