MODULE 3: WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Sones, Sonya. 2003. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689855532.

PLOT SUMMARY:
Sophie is a freshman in high school. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW follows her life and loves over the course of several months. Her parents are distant from her and from each other. Her father travels a great deal and her mother is more engrossed in the lives of television characters than her daughter. Sophie has two best friends who provide support and companionship. Sophie develops several love interests through the course of the tale-Dylan, Cyber-man, and finally Murphy. Dylan is her first boyfriend of this book. They drift apart as she becomes enamored with a boy she only chats with online. Finally, she develops a crush on a masked dancer at a school dance. She develops a platonic relationship with a boy from school who is considered a social outcast. As her feelings change, she discovers that the boy who has now become a big part of her life is none other than her masked stranger. She must decide whether to stay in this relationship and risk her social status or end this blossoming affair. In the end, she chooses the relationship over status.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
To begin the analysis, it should be mentioned that this reviewer found this book to be fantastic. It is a must read for every woman. It will remind mothers of the trials of being a adolescent girl, and it will remind all women of one of the most painful and confusing times in her life.
The book is a free verse novel. Each page or pair of pages contains a poem regarding a different event. The poems are organized chronologically. One could create a timeline based on the events highlighted in the poetry.
The poems do not have a rhyme scheme or flow within the poems. There are a few poems that include a repeating refrain within them IF ONLY pg 81 and I HATE HER pg 149. The phrase “if only” is wishful and longing. It contains a sadness and desperation. This is evident in the poem on page 81. The poem from page 149 uses another sentiment. Hate is such a strong emotion. The phrase “hate her” appears 15 times in this poem. In each case, the refrain leads a certain emphasis on feelings. Including the phrase multiple times seals meaning in the readers mind. Reading the word “hate” one time is not as powerful as reading it fifteen times.
Some may believe that this style would lead to gaps and disconnected storylines. It would seem that details would be omitted or that characters could seem flat. This is not the case with this novel. The characters are fully developed. With an appropriate amount of detail and exact word choice, one feels invested in Sophie’s life.
The poems seem authentic. One could believe that these were written by a teenage girl in the midst of trying to discover and understand love. Timeless is another word this reviewer would use to describe the poems. While they are specific to the events of Sophie’s life, any girl or woman could identify with Sophie’s feelings about Dylan and then about Murphy. There are certain universal elements of growing up, and Ms. Sones has captured them effectively. As Sophie admits her true feelings about Murphy and deals with the potential consequence of dating someone who is deemed a social reject at school, most women can recall some event in her past that may be similar, or it may just spark a memory of youthful relationships.
Sophie and her mother’s relationship is also examined. Sophie’s mother is disconnected from her daughter’s life and the outside world. Sophie’s mother seems to be imagining the worst about her daughter’s behavior. One could wonder if this imagined behavior was influenced by the amount to television the mother consumed.
This interesting dynamic is investigated as the events surrounding a school dance unfold. Sophie and her mother purchase a dress that Sophie does not like. She works and saves money to purchase a dress she does like. She changes clothes at a friend’s house before the dance but forgets to change before her mother picks her up. Her mother is very upset and chooses to use guilt to punish Sophie. She withdraws from the entire family, weeping in the basement, for an undisclosed amount of time. Sophie’s notes and begging for forgiveness brings her mother out of the basement but not into Sophie’s daily life.
This reviewer’s favorite poem can be found on page 174. It is titled BON VOYAGE. At this point in the book, Sophie has decided to take herself on a vacation in her own city. She is getting ready to leave. Her mother asks where she is going and tells Sophie that this is a clever idea. Sophie fears that her mother will want to come along but then wishes that she would invite herself along. The double sided emotion and complexity of growing up and away from one’s parents. Sophie wants her mother and hopes for freedom all in one stanza. This serves as a great reminder for any individual who works with or has a teenage child.
There are no illustrations included in most of the text. However in the last 30 pages of the book a small colorless sketch is included. It is of a man and a woman. It is a flip picture. If one flips the pages quickly the two people move closer together, kiss, drift apart, but end up in each other’s arms. These sketches appear as Sophie and Murphy’s relationship begins to blossom. The sketch at the bottom corner of the page reflects the status of their relationship. This is a very interesting tool. It added animation and validated the relationship. It provided visual clues for Sophie and Murphy’s promising love.
This verse is extremely likable but should be restricted for readers age 12 and up. While the content is relatively mild by most standards, there is some innuendo that would not be appropriate for or understood by younger readers. There is no profanity or inappropriate sexual activity. However, there are references to kissing and interest in going to “second base”(or maybe farther) with a boy. One poem is devoted to the recent development of our heroine’s breasts.
In the end, this reviewer believes that this book teaches an invaluable lesson about following one’s heart instead of the pressures of one’s social circle. Sophie stays in a relationship with a boy who is viewed as outside the realm of “acceptable dating material”. However, she sees past this and continues the relationship. The last poem caused this reader to yell “YES” when it was revealed that she was choosing love over potential social disaster.
When the book came to a close, this reader was left with a desire for more. This reader could follow more life and times of Sophie if given an opportunity.
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REVIEW EXCERPTS:
*ALA 2002 Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
* BOOKLIST Editors’ Choice
*ALA 2002 Best Book for Young Adults
*PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY Starred Review
* From PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY : “Honest...destined to captivate”
* KIRKUS WEEKLY Starred Review
* From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL : “Sones is a bright, perceptive writer who digs deeply into her protagonist's soul.”

CONNECTIONS:
Sonya Sones interview
http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-sones-sonya.asp

Sonya Sones website
Sonya Sones official website home page
List of works from Wikipedia
Novels in verse
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (HarperCollins 1999)
What My Mother Doesn't Know (Simon and Schuster 2001)
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (Simon and Schuster 2004)
What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know (Simon and Schuster 2007) COMING IN MAY 2007!
Short stories in verse
Short stories in verse are included in the following anthologies:
Love and Sex (2001) - a story called Secret Shelf
Necessary Noise (2003) - a story called Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Sixteen: Stories About that Sweet and Bitter Birthday (2004) - a story called Cat Got Your Tongue