Cassandra E. (rainyjane) - , reviewed on 6/9/2011 + 4 more book reviews

The Adoration of Jenna Fox explores the ethics of biomedical engineering in a way that is rarely seen in YA fiction. Told from Jenna's point of view, the narrative follows her as she wakes in a world with few memories of her life before. As they come trickling back, so do the circumstances surrounding the family move to California, her parents' secrecy, her grandmother's inexplicable dislike for her, and a bevy of question surrounding the why and wherefore of what makes a person human, where the line between legality and illegality lies in the biomedical and healthcare communities, and how people can define themselves when all they thought they knew about their identity has been torn away.

This is most appropriate for readers 10th grade and up. Advanced readers as young as 8th grade may enjoy the book, but much of the narrative's power lies in the subtext and questions of ethics, which may go over younger readers' heads. This would be particularly good as an in-class novel for group discussion or for exploration in an essay, owing to the controversial subject matter and Jenna's individual struggle with identity, with which most teens should be able to identify.

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