One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

 

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 Books for Young Readers.

ISBN: 1442493836

 

Plot Summary: This Free Verse Novel is about a young girl named Ruby who's mother dies. She lives with her mother on the East Coast, and has never had contact with her father until she is forced to fly across the country to live with him when her mother dies. Her father is a famous movie star living in Los Angeles, and is seemingly happy to have her around. She however, is not thrilled because she is having to leave her best friend, Lizzie and her boyfriend Ray behind. As the story progresses, Ruby learns more about her father and starts to make friends at school, and even befriends her father's assistant Max. In  the process Ray and Lizzie find love in one another and Ruby's heart is broken. Through a series of events in the story, she learns more about her father and his past with her mother and realizes that he has always been there for her, and she is finally able to be at peace with the way her life has turned out.

 

Critical Analysis:  Sonya Sones paints a beautiful poetic tragedy about loss, love, and growing up in her free verse novel One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies.  In the beginning of the story we meet Ruby, a girl filled with teenage angst and sadness because her mother dies, and is forced to move across the country away from her boyfriend and best friend to live with her father that she has never met. Through a series of events in the story she finds acceptance and love and is able to appreciate her new life in California.

 

The free verse novel is set up with headings describing each section of the novel and is easy to read. it has short lines and mixed within the free verse poems, there are emails exchanged between characters which add to the overall appeal of the novel. There is a great use of imagery and sensory language which appeals to the readers senses and creates a vivid mental image of the story. For example, in the beginning of the text, Ruby is on the plane flying to Los Angeles  to meet her father. She describes the plane as "gigantic silver bullet with wings... [a] monstrous steel pterodactyl". This adds to the overall description of the plane and creates a mental picture in the readers mind that they are able to make connections with.  The author also describes the setting of California in great detail so the reader can imagine what Ruby is feeling and seeing throughout the book. The novel has many elements of fiction and reminds me of a story, but is written in free verse. This book would be appealing for many young adult readers.

 

Review Excerpts:

·         From School Library Journal  - Grade 7-10–In one- to two-page breezy poetic prose-style entries, 15-year-old Ruby Milliken describes her flight from Boston to California and her gradual adjustment to life with her estranged movie-star father following her mother's death. E-mails to her best friend, her boyfriend, and her mother ("in heaven") and outpourings of her innermost thoughts display her overwhelming unhappiness and feelings of isolation, loss, and grief ("…most days,/I wander around Lakewood feeling invisible./Like I'm just a speck of dust/floating in the air/that can only be seen/when a shaft of light hits it"). Ruby's affable personality is evident in her humorous quips and clever wordplays. Her depth of character is revealed through her honest admissions, poignant revelations, and sensitive insights. This is not just another one of those gimmicky novels written in poetry, it's solid and well written, and Sones has a lot to say about the importance of carefully assessing people and situations and about opening the door to one's own happiness. Despite several predictable particulars of plot, Ruby's story is gripping, enjoyable, and memorable.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

·         From Booklist - *Starred Review* Gr. 7-12. After the death of her mother, high-schooler Ruby is sent from Boston to L.A. to live with the father she has never met: "He's such a scumbag / that he divorced my mother / before I was even born." The "scumbag" is Whip Logan, a famous movie actor, but Ruby is too angry to be impressed; at the airport she wonders whether to "ask him for his autograph, / or kick him in the balls." Sones' latest free-verse novel follows Ruby through her first few months in her new home, a mansion where her every desire is granted--except what she longs for most: her best friend, her boyfriend, and of course, her mother. Sones' novel is an unusual combination of over-the-top Hollywood fairy tale and sharp, honest story about overcoming grief. Teens may predict the novel's surprises long before Ruby discovers them... and, as in every fairy tale, many things are too good to be true--especially Whip's eager devotion and celebrity. It's Ruby's first-person voice--acrimonious, raw, and very funny--that pulls everything together, whether she is writing e-mails to her deceased mother, attending Dream Analysis class at a private L.A. high school, or finally learning to accept her father and embrace a new life. A satisfying, moving novel that will be a winner for both eager and reluctant readers. Gillian Engberg

·         Booklist, starred review -  "A satisfying, moving novel." 

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

·         Bookpage - "Ruby's voice is pitch-perfect."

Connections/Activities:

·         Students can rewrite the ending of the free verse novel.

·         Students can try writing their own free verse poem.

·         Students can compare/contrast the characters of other Sonya Sones free verse novels.

·         Select other books by Sonya Sones

o   What My Mother Doesn't Know - 1442493852

o   What my Girlfriend Doesnt Know - 1442493844

o   To Be Perfectly Honest: A Novel Based on an Untrue Story - 068987605X

·         Related Texts

o   The Firefly Letters by Margarita Engle - 0805090827

o   Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill - 0061853283

Personal Connections: I have never read a free verse novel before, and I thought that this was a very interesting type of book. I feel that this type of text would be great to use in the middle grades and beyond. It is written very similarly to a chapter book, and is easy to read. I look forward to reading more free verse novels in the future.