What My Mother Doesn’t Know

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sones, Sonya. 2001. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-689-85553-5

AWARD(S) and STARS

• Booklist Book Review Stars, 2001
• Kirkus Book Review Stars, 2001
• ALA Top Ten Youth Romances, 2002
• ALA YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2002

PLOT SUMMARY

In this novel in verse, Sophie Stein, a Jewish high school student, embraces her friendships with classmates Grace Brody and Rachel Ness from the time they defend her from bullies in third grade to the experiences of first loves. In poems like “Maybe Dad Loves Me” and “I Hate Her,” Sophie, like many teens, has difficulty relating to her parents, while in other poems she gets “involved” with a cyber creep while dating another guy putting her into a moral dilemma. Sophie, also known as Fee, attends classes, school dances, dinners at her friends’ houses, and the art museum. In the end, Sophie befriends her “masked man” and falls for a guy with a crooked nose and huge ears.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Sonya Sones expertly composes this novel in verse from a teenage girl’s point of view. Using titles that blend into each free verse poem or titles describing what the poem is about, Sones weaves the complex “language” of teens with precision capturing their feelings and attitudes. Her arrangement of the lines and verses insert emphasis and pauses bringing clarity to the poems. In the poem “Wish” she orchestrates the words to funnel down accentuating the text of the poem, “I wish I could . . . and shrink way down . . .” She also uses various fonts highlighting conversations and to bring attention to important details, like capitalizing Sophie’s imaginary headline: STUPID TEEN MURDERED BY CYBER PSYCHO! Adolescents will relate to Sophie and her life.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

•  BOOKLIST, 2001 – “The poetry is never pretentious or difficult; on the contrary, the very short, sometimes rhythmic lines make each page fly. 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.”
• CCBC, 2001 – “This novel deftly embodies the angst, frustration, humor, and joy of adolescent life.”
• KIRKUS, 2001 – “Sones has crafted a verse experience that will leave teenage readers sighing with recognition and satisfaction.

CONNECTIONS

• This novel has many themes: families, friends and enemies, culture, romance, etc. Discuss these themes and find excerpts from the novel which indicate these themes. For example in the poem “It’s Odd About Kissing,” the discovery of love/ romance is revealed.
• Read other novels in verse by this author or others:
• LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech, ISBN 978-0439569866
• STOP PRETENDING: WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY by Sonya Sones, ISBN 978-0064462181
• WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW by Sonya Sones, ISBN 978-0689876035
• OUT OF THE DUST by Karen Hesse, ISBN 978-0590371254
• ON POINTE by Lorie Ann Grover, ISBN 978-1416978268
• DIAMOND WILLOW by Helen Frost, ISBN 978-0312603830
• In the book, Sophie is intrigued by a painting created by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Le Bal aBougival. Allow students to learn more about the artist and his style of painting. Encourage students to also visit an art museum and write about their experience discussing the art they saw and their favorite artist.
• After reading What My Mother Doesn’t Know, have students go to the website Gravity Teen http://www.gravityteen.com/insp.cfm to view stories, poems and quotes by other teens. Then have students to create their own poems or stories about their experiences with growing up, friends, school, clothes, enemies, love, etc. and post them on the website.