Have you ever had an experience that you just absolutely wanted to forget? I think we all have at one time or another. Welcome to Nora James' world. In Angie Smibert's gripping debut novel, MEMENTO NORA, one little white pill can take away all your bad memories. Here's a brief summary of the book:
Nora witnesses a horrific bombing on a shopping trip with her mother. In Nora’s near-future world, terrorism is so commonplace that she can pop one little white pill to forget and go on like nothing ever happened. However, when Nora makes her first trip to a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic, she learns what her mother, a frequent forgetter, has been frequently forgetting.
Nora secretly spits out the pill and holds on to her memories. The memory of the bombing as well as her mother’s secret and her budding awareness of the world outside her little clique make it increasingly difficult for Nora to cope. She turns to two new friends, each with their own reasons to remember, and together they share their experiences with their classmates through an underground comic. They soon learn, though, they can’t get away with remembering.
Doesn't that make you want to go track down this book right now?
Well, you don't have long to wait - MEMENTO NORA releases on April 1st and to celebrate, Angie asked a group of writer friends to participate in a blog tour where we all share a spit-worthy memory we don't want to forget. So here's mine:
This happened about three years ago. My family was vacationing in Mexico and my then 12 year-old daughter and I were swimming in the surf. Well, it was higher than we realized (duh - those red flags are up for a reason...) and we got pulled out over our heads. The waves started lifting us up and then pulling us out - which is all good fun, until you can't make your way back to shore. Now, I've been a swimmer all my life (I grew up on a lake) and have never been afraid in the water - but I was feeling decidedly uncomfortable so I told my daughter to head for shore.
Well, she was a pretty good swimmer but she couldn't make any headway against those waves. By this time, the current was pulling us down the beach and we were headed for this barely submerged HUGE coral encrusted rock that the waves were crashing onto. If we were thrown against that - it was not going to be pretty. I grabbed my daughter and started swimming one-handed to the shore, telling her to kick to help propel us, but by this time she was so tired, she was mostly bobbing.
The waves were getting bigger and bigger and tossing us all over the place. One broke over us and I lost my grip on my daughter. I don't have the words to describe the fear I felt at that moment. There was so much white foamy water swirling around us I couldn't see anything. I stabbed my hand blindly into the water and thankfully found her. I grabbed her rash guard and pulled her head above water. Then, luckily, I was able to break free of the current and get us to shore. I can honestly say I have never been more scared in my life.
So, though I would LOVE to forget that memory - I also don't ever want to - because I will NEVER walk into the ocean again without checking the surf and being extremely cautious. I have a new respect for the power of those waves and also so thankful that my daughter and I didn't have a different ending that day. Okay - back to Angie's contest:
Well, she was a pretty good swimmer but she couldn't make any headway against those waves. By this time, the current was pulling us down the beach and we were headed for this barely submerged HUGE coral encrusted rock that the waves were crashing onto. If we were thrown against that - it was not going to be pretty. I grabbed my daughter and started swimming one-handed to the shore, telling her to kick to help propel us, but by this time she was so tired, she was mostly bobbing.
The waves were getting bigger and bigger and tossing us all over the place. One broke over us and I lost my grip on my daughter. I don't have the words to describe the fear I felt at that moment. There was so much white foamy water swirling around us I couldn't see anything. I stabbed my hand blindly into the water and thankfully found her. I grabbed her rash guard and pulled her head above water. Then, luckily, I was able to break free of the current and get us to shore. I can honestly say I have never been more scared in my life.
So, though I would LOVE to forget that memory - I also don't ever want to - because I will NEVER walk into the ocean again without checking the surf and being extremely cautious. I have a new respect for the power of those waves and also so thankful that my daughter and I didn't have a different ending that day. Okay - back to Angie's contest:
One lucky winner will win this great PRIZE PACKAGE:
Signed copy of Memento Nora
Temporary tattoos and stickers
Bookmarks
Your very own supply of forgetting pills. (Ok, they’re really Jelly Belly’s.)
And a glossy charm bracelet.
How do you win? All you have to do is leave a comment here on my blog and leave a comment back on Angie's blog here. Angie will announce the winner on her blog on April 7th. DON'T FORGET to check back there to see if you're the winner!
~Kiki
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