Memory - Softcover

Mahy, Margaret

3.7

300 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000712337X ISBN 13: 9780007123377

Publisher: Harpercollins Pub Ltd, 2002

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

When two worlds collide, life begins to make a different sort of sense! On the fifth anniversary of his sister's death, nineteen-year-old Jonny Dart is still troubled by guilt and an imperfect memory of the accident that took her life. He goes searching for the only other witness to the fatal event, his sister's best friend. But instead of finding the answers he's looking for, he finds Sophie -- an old woman with Alzheirmer's. Sophie lives with several cats in genteel but dreadful squalor, and has no memory of recent events. As a temporary outcast and labelled 'loser', Jonny takes refuge with her. In Sophie's house, past and present merge for both of them. Their accidental meeting changes their lives.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Margaret Mahy was born in New Zealand and has loved telling stories all her life. She has published well over a hundred titles and won several major prizes and awards, including The Order of New Zealand, for her internationally-acclaimed contribution to children's literature. She has twice won the prestigious Carnegie Medal, (The Haunting, 1982, and The Changeover, 1984).Margaret lives in the South Island of New Zealand, in a house which she partially built herself, overlooking Governor's Bay.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up Memorythe crucial center of our identities, its joy and pain, and the consequences of its dislocationis the theme of Mahy's latest novel. Nine teen-year-old Jonny Dart is both run ning away from the painful memory of his sister's death, and towards under standing his role in that death. In a mo ment of crisis he meets Sophie, an Alz heimer's victim in her 80s, and the two are drawn together. Both are trapped to some extent by their memories; both are outcasts living within a kaleido scopic vision of both past and present. Even the minor characters echo the hold of memory, and the setting is dom inated by a giant fake faucet that hangs on a sign overlooking the old lady's house. What a powerful image of the flow of memory! In caring for Sophie, including one memorable, funny, yet delicate scene where Jonny gently bathes her, readers see a process of re orientation and healing for the torment ed young man. Sophie's condition is de picted realistically as incurable, but readers' empathy and respect for the dignity that lies behind the mismatched clothing and wandering conversation will grow steadily chapter by chapter. Warmly recommended for its insight into a special relationship, vivid de scriptions and depth of character por trayal, this will be appreciated by thoughtful readers. Barbara Hutche son, Greater Victoria Public Library, B.C., Canada
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.