The Memory Book Analysis

In The Memory Book by Lara Avery, Samantha has always been socially awkward, however, after learning about a new disease, she becomes insecure and unconfident. Samantha gets diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C, causing her to experience memory loss, incoordination, and other symptoms. She starts writing in a journal in order to remember important events and memories. Her closest friend and debate partner, Maddie, starts to drift away after learning about her disease. Samantha is in a similar situation with her boyfriend, Stuart, when they start having problems after she informs him of her disease. Critical Disability Theory examines of the representations of people with disabilities throughout literature and the construction of ‘normal’ bodies. Avery negatively represents disabilities by

Who knows how he’ll react. If he freaks like Maddie, then I’d be down to no one” (144). When Samantha decides that “[She] can’t tell Stuart about NPC”, she bases it off of the bad reaction from Maddie. This demonstrates how other people don’t try understand her disease, and instead decide to “freak”, as she describes Maddie’s reaction. The author makes no note of Maddie understanding Samantha’s situation, suggesting that disabilities are strange or outlandish. Samantha also thinks that if she tells Stuart, then he would leave her and she’d be “down to no one”. This insinuates that Samantha’s disease would create an unpleasant personality for Samantha, which furthers how disabilities are represented as an exclusion from society. Finally, Samantha had just blanked out (a symptom of NPC), and lost her National Debate Competition:“And then you realize everyone else is inside, being normal, and even your family can’t stand you and you are completely and utterly alone” (98). Samantha blames herself, or more specifically her disease, for