WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW by Sonya Sones

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sones, Sonya. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689855532

PLOT SUMMARY

Sonya Sones provides a collection of narrative poems written by a fictional young, teenage girl. Through this free verse rendition, Sophie discloses her romantic relationships with three different boys, Dylan, Chaz, and Murphy/Robin. While she discusses her new boyfriend Dylan, she is secretly chatting online with Chaz, and covertly crushing on sweet Murphy/Robin, who is an outcast and disliked by her friends, Rachel and Grace. Sophie discusses her relationship with her family, her friends, school, holidays, and most importantly her inner turmoil over boys. While enduring the obvious rift between her father and her mother and herself, she must keep up appearances with her friends without disclosing too much information about her love life. In the end she must choose whether to follow her heart or go along with the crowd.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The poems of a teenage girl are exactly as one would expect, anxiety-ridden and hormonal. Sophie describes her feelings in narrative poetry portraying her family and her love interests in words that grip you. She is so frank and honest that women of all ages are able to relate to the events in her life. It is a raw look into the mind of a ninth grade girl, and the free verse novel follows a seemingly sequential path towards a surprising end. It is written in diary-like form, and on each page she only uses a handful of words. However, these words are powerful enough to take over the entire page.

The titles of each poem create a necessary link between the pages to successfully sustain a sequential story. The reader is able to understand when the days have changed or just the setting. The only imagery differing from the usual text font is found on page 231, in the email sent between Sophie and her friends, which coincides with a new featured image drawn in pencil at the bottom right page of man in cabaret dancing with a young woman in a dress. It marks the beginning of Sophie’s deeper feelings toward Robin/Murphy, and is both subtle and blatant at the same time.

EXCERPT(S)

Winner of the Iowa Teen Book Award (2005–2006)
Michigan Thumbs Up Award Honor Book (2002)
Chosen an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2002)

School Library Journal Review: “Told in Sophie's own free verse poems, the story moves and evolves quickly in a satisfying and tantalizing manner. Kate Reinders perfectly portrays Sophie's teen angst. Although the reading is sometimes too rapid for listeners to absorb the changes in topics, girls will relate to the author's honest prose and Sohie's angst. An excellent addition to YA collections.”—Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT

Booklist Review: “Sophie's voice is colloquial and intimate, and the discoveries she makes are beyond formula, even while they are as sweetly romantic as popular song. A natural for reluctant readers, this will also attract young people who love to read.” Hazel Rochman

CONNECTIONS

*Teenage girls will discover the rhetoric in this book engrossing and relatable. It can be used to encourage writing their own narrative poetry for class, and maybe even for their own personal diary.

*Should check out other books by Sonya Sones:

Sones, Sonya. WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW. ISBN 9780689876035
Sones. Sonya. ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. ISBN 9781416907886