Poetry

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies


by Sonya Sones

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Sones, Sonya. 2004. ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1416907882.

PLOT SUMMARY:


This poetic novel uses free verse to tell the story of Ruby, daughter of the famous actor Whip Logan and his ex-wife. While most kids would be much more interested in the famous parent, Ruby is more concerned with her mother, who recently died. The 15-year-old is now forced to move to L.A. to live with her father, who she has not seen in 13 years. This book takes the reader on a ride that many teens would love to be on, but not in the same situation as Ruby Milliken, who just misses her mother, her friends, and her home. Ruby eventually finds her way in this strange new place, but not without a few more heart-wrenching events take place in her life.



CRITICAL ANALYSIS:



She is not the classic bitter teenager, though. Ruby has deep thoughts about her mother (who she still emails though the messages keep getting sent back to her with "fatal errors"). She befriends her father's assistant, Max (who she lovingly refers to as Aunt Max given his sexual orientation). She has trouble fitting in at her new school, and she misses her best friend and boyfriend back east. Then Ruby stumbles into some even more troubling times, times filled with the death of a classmate who she has never met and the knowledge that her best friend and boyfriend share an ugly secret. Her world comes crashing down, almost literally, and she finds the father she didn't realize she had always had, along with the comfort of new friends and the prospect of a new love. It ends just the way every girl reading it will want her own life to end. The poetry in this novel is beautiful, and even heartbreaking at times. At one low point in the book, the main character describes her pain as "as if my heart's been Novocained." The reader cannot help but tear up as the word choice and even the spacing reflects pain as she tells of the moment her mother died with

"I was holding her hand


when it finally happened."





REVIEW EXCERPTS:

Arizona Young Reader's Award

Garden State Teen Book Award

Iowa Teen Award

Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award

SCASL Book Award

Volunteer State Book Award



"A winning portrayal of a teenage girl's loves and losses." - Publisher's Weekly



CONNECTIONS:

Excerpts from this book would be beneficial in teaching the trait of Sentence Fluency in students' own writing.

WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN'T KNOW by Sonya Sones

WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW by Sonya Sones

STOP PRETENDING- WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY by Sonya Sones