Forgotten by Cat Patrick

On the weekend, I finished Just Like Fate and wanted to read another book by Cat Patrick. I was out of town and so I ordered this one on my Kindle. I don't love doing that because then I can't share it with my students- but I couldn't imagine reading anything else, so I ordered it and read it in one night. Forgotten is about a 16 year old girl, London Lane who every night at 4:33 am forgets everything from her past. Her only memories are of what is going to happen in the future. So while she knows that she will always be close with her best friend, she can't remember what they did or talked about the day before. This means that London needs to leave herself notes each night before she falls asleep to allow her to have a normal life. Then, she meets a new boy to the school- Luke Henry- a boy who should be impossible to forget. But each morning she needs to remind herself of who he is and how close they are becoming. This book was so interesting- a typical teenage girl- who cannot remember her past. I can't even begin to imagine how challenging it would be to go through life like this. London tries to help people when she can see they are about to make a mistake, but she isn't able to help the people she loves the most. This book has a great plot as well as exploring issues that crop up in any relationship. I just wish I had a hard copy of it for my classroom!

Just Like Fate by Suzanne Young and Cat Patrick

Last week I read my first Cat Patrick book Revived and when I finished it, I quickly ran to Chapters to look for anything else she has written. The only one in stock was Just Like Fate and it was co-written by another author who I really like- Suzanne Young who wrote The Program This book was a great follow up to the first one I read. Cat Patrick writes a mean story that is for sure and adding in another amazing author only made the book that much better! Just Like Fate is a story about Caroline. Caroline is very close to her grandmother and when she suffers a stroke, Caroline is devastated. The whole family spends all of their time at the hospital waiting for something to happen. But one Friday night, Caroline has a decision to make, her best friend has invited her to a party and while she knows she should stay at the hospital, a big part of her needs the escape and wants to go. This is where the story really starts to take off- the remaining chapters are told in alternating perspectives. One chapter is what happens when Caroline goes to the party and the next chapter explores what happens when Caroline stays at the hospital. The authors continue to write the different chapters based on the two options and how the future is changed based on her choice that night. I loved Caroline's story- I like who she is, and how she responds to different situations. She is a typical high school girl with many different choices to make. She makes some bad decisions in one story, and some bad decisions in the other story- just like in life. I think there are many great lessons people can learn from this book. There is one scene that had me question if I should have it in my grade 7 classroom, but I have decided that how it was handled is appropriate and important for people to read, so I am going to be putting in my room this week. If you haven't read Cat Patrick's books, I would strongly suggest you check out her books. You can also check out her blog http://catpatrick.com/ and Suzanne Young's blog here