Polak, Monique. Remember This: The Fascinating World of Memory. Valéry Goulet, Illus. Orca, 03/2024. 96pp. Nonfiction. Trade $26.95. 978-1-4598-3412-5. GRADES 5–7. UNSATISFACTORY.
Thirteen chapters packed with intriguing information and diverting examples attempt to explain how memories work, what happens in the brain, why some things are remembered and others forgotten, and what tricks aid memory. Photographs and colorful, graphic illustrations that represent a wide diversity of age and race break up the text, and an informal conversational tone strives to engage interest. But disconcerting choices undermine the effort, raising questions without advancing understanding. Examples seem selected for shock value—a car crash, multiple accounts of violent death, a horse with a prosthetic leg. The text and illustrations fail to integrate and support these sensational elements, leaving readers distracted and unsettled. Visual elements, central to the text, are not pictured, leaving readers struggling to imagine what Chilean arpilleras look like or how the two-dollar bill of a 911 victim formed a heart shape. Some definitions don’t clarify—knowing “neural circuits are groups of neurons connected by synapses that carry out specific functions” doesn’t explain much. A chapter on false memory concludes with the wildly inaccurate statement that false memories only happen in a lab or in movies. Even in the strongest chapter, Tricks to Boost Your Working Memory, major flaws distract. Conclusions are advanced without addressing why or how—why does physical writing aid memory? Why do subjects falsely remember disturbing images but not pleasant or neutral ones? Is “chunking items on a bucket list” the ideal mnemonic example for middle schoolers, or is “surfing the Internet” the typical skill an Alzheimer’s patient forgets how to do? Back matter includes a glossary, print and online resources, and index. Review based on an ARC.
Melissa McAvoy—Retired