Pearson, M. (2008). The adoration of Jenna Fox. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
Plot Summary:
It has been a year since Jenna Fox has been able to move on with her life. After waking up form a year long coma, she has been slowly trying to recover her memories. With a stack of DVD's, she is determined to remember everything. However, things are not the same as before. The last thing Jenna remembers is living in Boston and spending time with her best friends and how happy she was. Now, she lives in California with her mother and grandmother while her father remains in Boston and things just don't seem right. Her mother is beyond overprotective and her grandmother practically despises her. Moreover, he father is very secretive and is a little too certain that Jenna will make a full recovery. As her memories continue to come back, Jenna is waiting to live her life, but how can she when she is not allowed to eat real food, attend public high school, and isn't allowed outside her home. When she is able to attend a small charter school, she meets other teens who have problems like she does, but what sets her apart from her new friends is her own body. Readers will be stunned when they find out what happened to Jenna and what the future will hold for her.
Critical Evaluation:
The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a compelling story of a young girl who's life is altered by an accident and her parents' decision to keep her alive. There is a great discussion on ethics and what it means to be human. Readers will not only be intrigued by the story, they will have a hard time loving or hating the characters. Given the fact that this story is based on some very complex issues such as nanotechnology and biotechnology, readers will find themselves struggling with their stance on these ideas and how it can help people regain their lives and living a long time. However, we all have to realize at what cost do we pay for playing the role of God. More importantly, we need to realize that with any kind of experimentation, the ones who are being experimented on need to give consent. There is a great discussion on what it means to be human and if being human is more than physiology.
Reader's Annotation:
Jenna Fox has just awakened from a coma after a major accident. However, she learns that her parents went through great lengths to keep her alive even if they were illegal.
Information about the Author:
Born in 1955, Mary E. Pearson, a native Californian, decided that she was going to be at the ripe age of seven-years-old. Her love for writing stemmed from her second grade teacher who could really tell a story. All through elementary school, her teachers had praised her for her writing and she continued to write all the way through high school. What most people don't know about Pearson is that she absolutely loved to dress up and take on the identity of her favorite storybook character, which has helped immensely with her writing.
After graduating high school, she went onto to Cal State Long Beach where she earned her BFA in Art where she spent a few years working as an artist. After giving birth to her children, she went back to school, San Diego State, to get her teaching credential and taught various grades. According to Pearson: "I went on to teach many different grades but it was my second grade students who pushed me back into writing. During Writing Workshop I would sit with them and write, loving the process, loving the stories, and lo and behold deciding I would love to return to my first love. That's a whole lot of lovin' going on and luckily for me I was able to do just that"(para. 5). Pearson currently lives in San Diego where she writes full time and has written five young adult novels.
Genre:
Teen Sci Fi
Curriculum Tie-In's:
N/A
Booktalking Ideas:
I absolutely love the fact that the cover art of this book do not, whatsoever, reflect the real issues in this book. Many teens who see it will probably assume that story is meant for girls, but I want readers to look beyond that. When booktalking this title, I would like teens to think that appearances are not what they seem. When showing readers the cover art I want to hear what they see and then explain to them that this story is about a young girl who should have died because of her frail human body, but technology has managed to help her survive but, in many ways, cost her whatever humanity she had left.
Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 9 & up
Challenge Issues:
N/A
Books Similar to The Adoration of Jenna Fox:
- Double Helix by Nancy Werlin
- Feed by M.T. Anderson
Why did I choose this book?
I actually had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book. After reading it, I fell in love with it because it is such an intelligent piece of literature that is not only thought-provoking, but tragic. My heart just broke when I found out about Jenna and I wanted to hate her parents, but how could I when they put themselves through hell to get their child back. There is such a moral dilemma in this story about what it means to be human that we all will question especially at the end of the story.
Awards & Recognition:
See this website
References:
Mary E Pearson :: Author. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2011, from http://www.marypearson.com/AboutMary/index.html
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