The Memory Index (The Memory Index #1)

Vaca’s mind-bending, 1987-set debut centers a quartet of teens attempting to uncover the secrets behind Memory Killer, a disease afflicting humankind that renders people unable to retain a large portion of their memories without artificial aid. Despite the Memory Killer’s prevalence, many consider 17-year-old Mexican American foster kid Freya Izquierdo a second-class citizen because she needs the help of artificial recall tech to access more than half her memories. Meanwhile, congressman’s son Fletcher Cohen, also 17, is one of the luckier victims of the disease; he’s a “recollector,” someone who can remember up to 75% of their memories naturally. Their paths cross when the teens receive invitations to Foxtail Academy in rural Tennessee, a boarding school where students will test a new device from Memory Frontier, a corporation that promises to revolutionize recall. Strange happenings and student disappearances cause Freya and Fletcher, along with their respective roommates, to suspect nefarious activity at the school. Via expansive worldbuilding and complex characters, Vaca adeptly combines a mysterious disease, corporate malfeasance, a sprinkling of romance, and good old-fashioned teen sleuthing to deliver an absorbing adventure. An ’80s music playlist concludes. Ages 13–up. (Aug.)