What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know

Sones, Sonya. 2007. WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 978-0-689-87602-8

Fourteen-year-old Robin Murphy is a teenager in a love – for the first time. He’s been the brunt of jokes since the middle of fourth grade, and now Sophie, his girlfriend, is the target. As a freshman in high school, Robin has been specially selected to take art classes at Harvard being accepted by friends he’s never had. Will Robin and Sophie’s relationship survive? Will the Harvard students find out Robin is still in high school?

In this romantic story of rising above the odds, Sones captures the yearnings  and emotions of an awkward adolescent boy in this poetic first person narrative. “Robin emerges as an appealingly flawed character whose desires – for love, for acceptance, for sex – will be instantly recognized by readers (2007).” Well-placed lines and occasional changes in font size emphasize moments and feelings in Robin’s life. Although mostly written in free verse, Sones uses a variety of other poetic forms like list, shape, and even, a dictionary entry of his name – a slang term that means “loser.” Concrete shape poems assist the reader in understanding the meaning like in the poem “I Do Not Have a One Track Mind” the only words are “Yeah, right,” but they are in the shape of a girl’s breasts or in the poem “Is My Nose Growing?” which is shaped like Pinnochio’s when he has lied. Vivid word imagery help readers grasp the degree of emotion such as in the phrases, “feeling about as powerless as a dead battery” or “big black in-your-face letters.” Because of its fast pace and all too familiar high school topics – sex, relationships, bullying, and not fitting in, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know will be a hit with relunctant readers and artistic students who need a place to belong.

If you haven’t read they other novel in verse about Robin and Sophie,What My Mother Doesn’t Know, it’s a must read! Sophie’s voice is heard in this novel as she tells about her life. Comparing and contrasting the two novels can show how the same events can be seen from different perspectives depending on the person’s point of view. “Many teens will see themselves, and they’ll cheer when Sophie and Robin thwart the bullies and reclaim their social standing (Engberg, 2007). Bullying, social standings in high school and the desire to be accepted would be good discussion topic in correlation with this book.

Recognized by Booklist as one of 2007’s Top 10 Youth Romances, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know was also one of YALSA’s Quick Picks for Relunctant Young Adult Readers in 2008. It was also considered a 2008 Best Children’s Books of the Year by the Bank Street College of Education and recognized as a Pure Poetry Pick on 2007 by Voice of Youth Advocates.

References

2007. “WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW.” Kirkus Reviews 75, no. 10:509. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2011).

Engberg, Gillian. 2007. “What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know.” Booklist 103, no.15:49. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2011).