One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Book title _One of those Hiddeous Books Where the Mother dies___

Poet/Anthologist, Illustrator __Sonya Sones___

Publisher, Year _Simon & Schusters Books, 2010__

Bibliography

Sones, S. (2010). One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN: 9780689858208

Plot summary

After her mother’s death, Ruby is forced to move to Los Angeles with her father she never met who is a famous actor. Through free versed poetry, readers are able to go through Ruby’s trials and tribulations as she adjusts to her new home and her new life.

Critical Analysis

Sones uses free versed poetry in this novel to share Ruby’s thoughts and experience as we the audience go through the first few months after she moved to Los Angeles. Since Sones decided to use free verse, there are not many examples of rhythm or rhyme that are shown in the novel. However, each aspect of the poem holds importance. It is essential to read the title of the poem since it has a direct tie to the poem. This is seen in That’s L.A. Down There, since it reads as it is part of a sentence in the first line of the poem. In fact, many times the stanza could be written as a sentence instead of broken into a few lines. Again, looking at That’s L.A. Down There, it is written as:

That’s L.A. Down There

Lurking under a curtain

of olive brown mist

that’s hanging over it

 like a threat.

It can be written as:

That’s L.A. down there lurking under a curtain of olive brown mist that’s hanging over it like a threat.

Sones decided to write this way to emphasize the impact and imagery sees and how Ruby felt at that moment when she landed in California. Instead of happiness and excitement, this is her hell. Another example of imagery and emotions that is profound in this novel is shown in the poem named Peach Fuzz. Sones uses the similarity between the flight attendant and Ruby’s mother based on something small as the sunlight hitting the hairs on their cheeks. This allows the readers to learn more about Ruby’s past and the feeling of reminiscing for her mother. Sones use something like the word peach fuzz to help the readers invoke the image of short soft hairs. It is also something that the age demographic this novel is targeting would understand. The book is written for teens and tweens, so the vocabulary, perspective, and references can be relatable to the intended audience.

Review Excerpts and Awards

·         South Carolina Book Award Nominee

·         ALA Best Books For Young Adults

·         ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

·         ILA Young Adults' Choices

·         Iowa Teen Award Master List

·         Charlotte Award Suggested Reading List (NY)

·         PSLA Fiction List

·         Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best

·         Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee

·         Texas Tayshas High School Reading List

·         Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee (NJ)

·         Maine Student Book Award Master List

·         Arizona Young Reader Book Award Nominee

·         NYPL Best Books for Teens

·         Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee

·         YASIG Best of the Best (MO)

·         Florida Teens Read Master List

·         SSLI Book Award Honor Book

·         Pennsylvania School Librarian Association (PSLA) "Top Ten (Or So)" Young Adult Books

·         Westchester's Choice

·         Gateway Readers Award Nominee (MO)

·         Volunteer State Book Award Master List (TN)

·         Rosie Award Nominee (IN)

·         Kansas State Reading Circle List Starred High School Title

·         Isinglass Teen Read Award Winner (NH)

“In a story worthy of Hollywood, 15-year-old Ruby moves to LA to join her estranged father, the movie star Whip Logan, when her mother dies. The grieving Ruby, given the fulfillment of many a teen’s fantasies, is nothing but sullen at being wrenched away from her Boston home and friends and plunked into the middle of the celebrity district of Beverly Hills with a father she’s never known. Short, stream-of-consciousness free-verse poems make up most of the narrative, by turns bathing readers in Ruby’s emotions and treating them to very sharp, very funny observations about LA. It’s a hugely artificial form, but its free acknowledgment thereof (“my life better not turn out to be like one of those hideous books where the mother dies and so the girl has to go live with her absentee father . . . ”) allows the text, and Ruby, to explore the possibilities behind the fantasy. Ruby’s eventual adjustment and her rapprochement with her father (cue the violins) will come as no surprise to readers but, hey—this is Hollywood after all, and sometimes a happy ending is exactly what we need.” -Kirkus

“The title of the book sounds scary, but the book is really good and interesting. Of course the mother dies because that's the title of the book, but I'm not going to say how she died. Ruby had to move to a new place to live with her father and she wasn't excited about that. Ruby met and learned many things in the book, and also realized that it wasn't so bad moving with her father after all. I love this book a lot as well as other books that Sonya Sones has. While I was reading this book It made me think of one of my friend's who also moved to a new place and wasn't happy about it, but ow she enjoys staying where she is now. Sonya's books will change your life!” – Angieforlife, Goodreads

Connections

If you would like to read more free verse novels from Sonya Sones:

·         What My Mother Doesn't Know, ISBN: 9781442493858

·         What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, ISBN: 9781442493841

·         Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy, ISBN: 9780064462181

If you would like to explore other teen poetry novels:

·         Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty, ISBN: 9780062289575

·         The Crossover, ISBN: 9780544107717

·         Keesha's House, ISBN: 9780312641276