The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Reader Discussion Guide

Also in these foreign editions:
French, German, Dutch, Australian, Japanese,
Chinese Complex, Chinese Simplified, Polish,
Spanish/Latin America, Korean, UK,
Finnish, Catalan, Spanish/Spain, Italian, Russian,
Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Hebrew

Identity.

Where does it lie? In a face? A voice? A bundled string of events we call a lifetime? Is it in our DNA, bone, flesh, ancestry? How do we define our identity, and is it a once and for all definition?

Who am I? Can anyone ever know for sure just what it takes to be who we are?

We all search for our place in this world and how we fit in, but for Jenna Fox that search reaches dark new dimensions when she wakes from a coma and can’t remember who she is. Worse, she doesn’t remember the people who claim to be her parents. There is something curious about them, about the house they all live in--in fact, curious describes her whole life, as she attempts to unlock the secrets of who she was, and who she has become.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox is about Jenna’s search for identity, a quest as old as history, but as startling as the future.

Paperback,Young Adult, 288 pages
Square Fish; Reprint edition (September 1, 2009)
English
ISBN-10: 0312594410, ISBN-13: 978-0312594411
This title is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook editions

Watch the book trailer . . .

Awards and Honors for The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Winner of the 2010 Arkansas Teen Book Award
2009 Westchester Fiction Award
2010 International Reading Association Young Adult Choice Book
2010 Heartland Honor Award for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction
2011 Garden State Teen Book Award Finalist
2009 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
2009 Andre Norton Award Finalist
2009 Winner Distinguished Work of Fiction CLCSC
2009 NYPL Best Books
2008 Golden Kite Honor Award
2010 German Youth Literature Award Finalist, Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
2008 Texas Lone Star Reading List
2008 Texas Tayshas High School Reading List
Cynsational Books of 2008
2010-2011 Califonia Young Reader Medal nominee
2010-2011 Isinglass Teen Reads Award Nominee

YALSA 2010 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
Librarians' Choices 2008
2008 School Library Journal Best Books
Kirkus Best Young Adult Books of 2008
VOYA Top Shelf Fiction 2008
2009 Capitol Choices for Teens
Booklist 2009 Amazing Audiobooks
2009 South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Master List
2010 Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award Master List
2010 Rhode Island Teen Book Award Master List
2010 Maine Student Book Award Master List
2010 Kentucky Book Award Master List
2010 Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award Master List
2010-2011 Oregon Reader's Choice nominee
2011 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award 2011 Master list
2010-2011 Eliot Rosewater Indiana HS Book Award nominee
2011 Sequoyah Book Awards Master list
2010-2011 Iowa High School Book Award Master List
2010-2011 Missouri Truman Readers Award nominee

What readers and critics say . . .

"[Pearson] raises the ante in unexpected ways until the very last page."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Outstanding examination of identity, science and ethics . . . Pearson reveals the truth layer by layer, maintaining taut suspense and psychological realism as she probes philosophical notions of personhood." --Kirkus, starred review

"This is a beautiful blend of science fiction, medical thriller, and teen-relationship novel that melds into a seamless whole that will please fans of all three genres." -- School Library Journal, starred review

". . . quite literally breathtaking." --Kliatt audio, starred review

". . . poignant, remarkable, unique, touching, true fiction at its best, and perfectly conceived and delivered."
--Teri Lesesne, Goddess of YA Literature

" . . . a stunning, fascinating novel." --Little Willow

" . . . a story that reads as a teen medical drama but is so much more. Pearson's writing is masterful as she slowly reveals the truth . . ."
--Tasha Saecker, Kid Lit

"Mary E. Pearson has truly created a riveting tale . . . "
--ALAN's Picks

"Beautifully written novel, Pearson deals with the heart of what it means to be human." --VOYA

". . . this provocative exploration of bioethics is heightened by the portrait of a family under enormous stress and the subtle thematic threads of faith and science woven through the story, making this a thriller with uncharacteristic literary merit."--Horn Book

"Refreshingly different . . . captivating . . . you won't be able to put it down." --The Guardian

"This is an amazingly powerful, thought-provoking, just brilliant novel."
--Teen Book Review

"Pearson’s gradual revealing of Jenna’s true identity is masterful . . . this bewitching, mysterious novel is a gripping examination of what it means to be human." --Reading Rants

"Pearson takes us on a remarkable, often chilling journey in which Jenna questions what makes life worth living and comes out the other side victorious."
--Jennifer M. Brown, Shelf Awareness

"Wow. Just wow. I read this in one sitting, unable to put it down."
--The Reading Zone

"Blew. Me. Away." --oops . . . wrong cookie, Texas Librarians Book Blog

" . . . if you only read one young adult novel this year, make it this one."
--Tez Miller

"I was hooked from the very first sentence . . . Teens and adults alike will love this thrilling novel." --A Patchwork of Books

"Holy wow, this was one killer read!" --Sarah Miller