1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sones, Sonya. 2001. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689855532
2. SUMMARY
Sophie is a young teenage girl who reveals her deepest secrets through poetry in a style that feels like writing in a diary. She finds herself in between childhood and adulthood, most of the story deals with her search for love. She goes through a few attractive boys only to finally settle on a boy that makes her happy, but is embarrassingly "homely". She is not sure if this relationship can work because she is afraid of what her friends and other peers will have to say about it. Always in the background is Sophie's less than ideal family life. Her mother and father fight a lot and both are emotionally distant. The book ends on a positive if not definitive note however, as Sophie chooses the unattractive boy and seems to be pleased with her choice.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sones does an impeccable job of fooling the reader into believing that Sophie is real at that we are actually reading her words and not the words of Sones. Not only does Sophie sounds age appropriate, she also sounds contemporary "I'm going to e them back". This makes Sones' writing very comfortable for young readers to connect with. Breaking a novel down into hundreds of individual poems could easily make for a choppy story, but the flow is remarkably smooth and one poem seems to lead naturally into the next. Often times in fact, the rhythm of the verse seems to quicken the pace novel, which makes for a fast read.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
starred review: PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY "Sophie's honest and earthy story feels destined to captivate a young female audience, avid and reluctant readers alike"
AMAZON.COM "shamefully delicious collection of angst poems is a loving and amazingly accurate tribute to adolescent girlhood"
5. CONNECTIONS
*Collect Sonya Sones's other teen verse novels for young adults to explore
*Have teens choose one poem from the book that they identify with the most and discuss their reasons
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