Module 8 - The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Bibliography

Pearson, M. E. (2008). The Adoration of Jenna Fox.  New York: Henry Holt

Summary

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just awoken from being in a coma for a year.  To help her gain her memory back, she watches home videos all devoted to each year of her life leading up to the accident.  As her awareness of her surroundings deepens, Jenna catches on to little discrepancies in what her parents have told her and what she hears from others – such as the amount of time they’ve been living in the house in California.  This along with little remarks from Jenna’s grandmother Lily, being told she walks funny by a fellow student, and listening to her new friend Allys’ views on the medical ethics of transplants (and the use of Bio Gel created by Jenna’s own father), creates questions that Jenna is determined to have answered.  And what she finds is that she is well over the legal percentage of allowable transplantation.  With only 10 percent (although the most important 10 percent) of her brain, Jenna wonders if she can even be considered human, but through Lily’s honest assessments and schoolmate Ethan’s firm assurance, Jenna finds her true identity she had been searching for long before the accident, an identity that causes her to stop trying to be the perfect daughter her parents want her to be.

My Thoughts

I thought it was kind of weird.  Not a book I would normally be interested in, but kind of enjoyed nonetheless.  I think hearing the story through Jenna’s perspective really forged a connection between reader and narrator in a way that creates empathy for Jenna’s situation and her discovery of identity.  I liked the style in which the book was written, mixing narrative with a little free verse and providing definitions of certain ambiguous words as Jenna comes across them in her attempt to define herself.

Reviews

“Jenna Fox wakes up from a coma and finds she has lost a year of her life.  Her memories of her life before the accident are barely a whisper and she has to learn how to be Jenna Fox all over again.  Her mother gives her video recordings to watch, one for each year of her life, and it is clear that Jenna has been her parents’ whole world.  As she gets stronger, she senses that something is very wrong.  Readers will be on the edge of their seats as, through this first-person narrative, Jenna unravels her own mysteries.  The California setting is brilliantly created as a future that has enough connection to present-day issues and events that it makes readers believe it all just might be possible.  The questions raised surrounding bioethics, what makes us human, and the potential direction of science and medicine lend themselves perfectly to classroom discussions in both science and civics.  Jenna’s voice will appeal to all readers, even those who don’t typically read science fiction.  The book’s Web site has a trailer to share with reluctant readers which, along with the beautiful cover, should have them hooked.”

Gallagher, G. (2008). [Review of the book The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson]. Library Media Connection, 27(3), p. 79

Ideas for Use

This would be a good display book because of the attention-grabbing cover art.  Also, I think this book would be great for a teen book club as it deals with finding your own identity as many teens today can relate to.  It would also be a great basis for a debate about current medical advancements, cloning in particular.