Review #9: What My Mother Doesn't Know

Bibliography

Sones, Sonya.  2001.  WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW.  New York, NY:  Simon & Schuster.  ISBN  0689841140

Plot Summary

Sophie, a teenager in contemporary Massachusetts, describes her experiences with a series of boys she meets, from an intense crush on a dreamy fellow named Dylan, through a potentially dangerous online flirtation, to an encounter with a masked figure at a Halloween dance, to her eventual realization that the homely but good-hearted Murphy is “Mr. Right.”  Along the way she must deal with quarrelsome, negligent parents.

Critical Analysis

The story is told entirely in the first person by Sophie, through a series of unrhymed, free-verse poems, which range from a few lines to about two pages in length.  Their titles make them look like a series of tiny chapters.  E-mail exchanges use prose and different fonts.  Near the end a series of drawings of a kissing couple appears in the lower right-hand corners of the pages to symbolize the budding romance between Sophie and her Mr. Right.  In a clever touch the author, who has taught animation, drew them as a flip-book sequence—flip the pages and the reader sees the couple exchange a kiss.

The text has a strong stream-of-consciousness quality.  The reader is very much in the “boy crazy” Sophie’s mind, hearing her describe her feelings, actions, and impulses.  Hers is a believable narrative voice that many young female readers will likely identify with.

The book contains some four-letter language and quite frank descriptions of youthful feelings and fantasies.  It has been challenged in some areas.  One might also have concerns as to whether teens, who are often already obsessed with thoughts of romance, should be encouraged to think about it even more in their reading.  Recommend with caution.

Review Excerpts

“Sones is a bright, perceptive writer who digs deeply into her protagonist’s soul.”  School Library Journal

“Drawing on the recognizable cadences of teenage speech, Sones poignantly captures the tingle and heartache of being young and boy-crazy.”  Publishers Weekly

Connections

Other novels-in-verse by Sonya Sones:

ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES.  ISBN 9781416907886

STOP PRETENDING:  WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY.

ISBN 9780613349796

WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW.  ISBN 9780689876035