I heard about the book, The Reminders by Val Emmich, when it was featured on NPR. The premise caught my attention and sounded intriguing. I enjoy books that focus on relationships between different generations. In this novel, Joan is a 10-year old girl who has an autobiographical memory and Gavin is a friend of her parents who just suffered a devastating loss. The relationship that develops between these two characters is real, organic, and a pleasure to read. Joan is a precocious child who remembers everything in painful detail while Gavin is a grieving man who is seeking to forget, or at least move past, his memories.

The pace of the story was engaging and the novel was told in the alternating voices of Joan and Gavin. They each have their own focus, agenda, and story-lines, but the beauty of this book is how they come together to form a strong bond, learn from each other, love each other, accept a loss, and find understanding and peace. Another plus for the book is the numerous references to The Beatles as part of the underlying theme of creativity in art and music.

The Reminders is not a difficult read. In fact, it is a great summer read. Even while dealing with topics of sadness (death, Alzheimer's, the struggles of a gay couple trying to start a family, sacrificing a dream because it is necessary for the good of others, etc.), this story is filled with plenty of joy, love, and laugh out loud moments. I highly recommend this book and am extremely grateful to NPR for introducing me to it.