The Memory of Things

Gae Polisner’s The Memory of Things is a realistic historical young adult novel that begins immediately after the attack on the World Trade Center on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Main character Kyle Donahue, 16, evacuates Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge with thousands of other shocked and fearful New Yorkers. When Kyle sees a girl his age wearing white wings cowering close to the bridge’s edge, he convinces her to go home with him, where he discovers she cannot remember a thing, not even her name. As he cares for his previously injured uncle and worries about his father (a police officer at Ground Zero), Kyle tries to protect the girl from further trauma—but soon suspects that her amnesia covers painful memories. Originally published in 2016, the novel explores the many forms of courage, the ephemerality of life, and the complexity of memory. This guide references the 2016 Macmillan edition.

Content warnings: September 11th; potential suicide, parent death; mentions of genocide and rape. Additionally, there is occasional use of profanity in dialogue and interior monologue.

Plot Summary

Sixteen-year-old Kyle Donahue evacuates lower Manhattan by crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on foot alongside thousands of fellow New Yorkers.