3/18/2017 0 Comments Forget Me Not2017, Written by Ellie Terry Starting a new school is hard. But Calliope June has Tourette Syndrome, and that makes it even harder. She can't always control the movements her body makes, or the sounds that come out of her mouth. When her mother's latest breakup means a new school for Callie, she tries to hide her tics, but they refuse to be silent, and Callie quickly becomes a bullying target. Only her neighbor, Jinsong, seems to see the person behind the tics, but social pressure makes him hesitant to make their friendship public. Forget Me Not is a heartfelt story about staying true to yourself, even when the rest of the world makes it difficult. Callie's Tourette Syndrome is handled with respect, but is never a chore to read about (not surprising, as the author herself has Tourette Syndrome). The characters feel like real people, and by the end of the book you will be invested in Callie and Jinsong's journeys.
Interestingly, the novel is written in a dual-narrative: Callie's chapters are in free verse, while Jinsong's are written in more traditional prose. This fully allows the reader to not only differentiate between the two points of view, but to really get into each character's heads. Forget Me Not is great for the reader who likes stories set in school, friend/family dramas, and learning about other people's culture and neurological disorders. Forget Me Not will help adolescent readers (5th-9th grade) learn to stay true to themselves and to be kind to everyone, even when it may not be easy.
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