Only one person in the whole world knows the secret of my memory. It might even be something like getting lost in a mall parking lot. Anything can act as the trigger-maybe a stressful event, or maybe something happy like falling in love for the first time.
Others might have part of it and then all of a sudden-BAM-the full power of it flips on. They might forget little things like where they put their phone five minutes ago, but they can remember nearly every day of their past in vibrant detail. A person with HSAM has memories specific to their past. It’s not the same as eidetic or photographic memory. It’s really rare, like fewer than a hundred people in the world have it. It’s called highly superior autobiographical memory, or HSAM. There are some people who remember everything-or almost everything-about their pasts. But I, Lulu Rose Carter, have a memory that won’t shut up. Turning thirteen and becoming an official teenager in two months is weird enough without having my brain go haywire. Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM for Short) It’s up to Lulu to uncover the truth before the only person who truly sees her slips away.
But they soon realize some secrets should stay buried, and Lulu wonders if she ever knew Gram at all.
With her friends Olivia and Max, Lulu digs into Gram’s mysterious past. Once Lulu learns that trauma can cause amnesia, all she needs to do to cure Gram is hunt down that painful moment in Gram’s life.
But Gram has started becoming absentminded, and the more lost she gets, the more she depends on Lulu…until Lulu realizes her memory holds the very key to fixing Gram’s forgetfulness. But her parents are lost in their own worlds, and Lulu has learned the hard way that having something as rare as HSAM-the ability to remember almost every single moment in her life-won’t make you popular in school.Īt least Lulu has Gram, who knows the truth about Lulu’s memory and loves her all the more for it. “Poignant…heartwarming.” - School Library Journalįish in a Tree meets The Thing About Jellyfish in this heartfelt middle grade debut about long-buried secrets, the power of memory, and the bond between a girl and her grandmother.Īll Lulu Carter wants is to be seen. “A heartfelt tale of an exceptional girl.” - BCCB