The Adoration of Jenna Fox: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Pearson, M. (2008). The Adoration of Jenna Fox. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN: 9780805076684

Plot Summary: Jenna Fox has been in a coma for over a year and when she finally wakes up she can't remember anything. Slowly she starts putting the pieces of her life together. Claire, her mother, is distant and guarded. Her father is gone a lot but makes phone calls to her mother. Jenna's grandmother, Lily, is a little strange. Jenna watches movies of herself and slowly memories come back, like flickers. Memories, not from just watching old movies, but brief glimpses of her past come fleetingly. Jenna realizes that her family lived in Boston but moved to California after her tragic accident.

Jenna really wants to go to school, but Jenna's mother, Claire, is very hesitant. Claire finds a school near their new home, which Claire is remodeling. The new high school is an "alternative" school with few students who are "different". Ethan is a juvenile delinquent who almost killed someone. Ally has artificial limbs. Dane is angry at the world. Through the Internet, Jenna finds out that she was in a terrible accident because she took her father's car (didn't have her drivers license) with two friends and had a horrible accident. Jenna's two friends died. Jenna's father, a brilliant scientist and doctor, rebuilds Jenna's body and brain, thereby saving her from death. Jenna learns that only ten percent of her brain is her "original" brain and she has almost artificial everything. Jenna feels like a freak. At the end of the novel, Jenna is over two hundred and sixty years old. She reflects upon the death of her parents, her seventy years of marriage to Ethan, and her daughter.

Critical Evaluation: The Adoration of Jenna Fox is brilliant and fascinating. The reader is kept in suspense and wonderment throughout the book. Many questions cross the reader's mind. In the future where does science stop? How long will people live? Would you want to live hundreds of years? This novel is unforgettable and really makes you ponder. It is written beautifully and as the memories unfold, the reader is full of anticipation and suspense.

Annotation: How would you feel if you found out that ninety percent of your brain and body wasn't you? Would you want to live indefinitely if science and medicine allowed you to? What would you do if you woke up from a coma nd everyone is hiding the truth from you?

About the Author: Mary Pearson was born in 1955 and is a young adult California novelist. Mary went to California State University, Long Beach, and majored in art. On her website she says that being an artist was challenging but was nothing compared to being a mother. Later, Mary got her teaching credential from San Diego State University. Teaching second grade inspired Mary to write. She writes full time from her home in Carlsbad, California. Mary has written: The Miles Between, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, A Room on Lorelei Street, Scribbler of Dreams and David v. God. She is married and has two daughters, "one terrific son-in-law" and two golden retrievers.

Mary Pearson's website was retieved on April 25, 2010 at:

http://www.marypearson.com/

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/ Medical Ethics/ Bioethics/ Biotechnology

Curriculum Ties: Literature/ Ethics

Talking Points: What would it feel like to wake up after being in a coma for over a year and not remember anything, including who you are? How would you feel if you found out, after being in a coma for over a year, that only ten percent of your brain/body was you? How would you feel if you found out you might live indefinitely?

Reading Level & Interest Age: 15 and up

Challenge Issues: None

Reason for Inclusion: The Adoration of Jenna Fox would be an excellent novel for inspiring discussion, deep thinking and analysis and for exploring possible ethical consequences of medical science as it relates to prolonging life.