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What My Mother Doesn't Know [Paperback]

Sonya Sones
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (244 customer reviews)

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Book Description

February 1, 2003
My name is Sophie.

This book is about me.

It tells

the heart-stoppingly riveting story

of my first love.

And also of my second.

And, okay, my third love too.

It's not that I'm boy crazy.

It's just that even though

I'm almost fifteen

it's like

my mind

and my body

and my heart

just don't seem to be able to agree

on anything.


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What My Mother Doesn't Know + What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know + One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Meet Sophie. She sees herself as the too-tall "Mount Everest of teenage girls," who, along with her friends, often suffers from "lackonookie disease." She's dating smoky, sexy Dylan, covertly chatting online with "cybersoul"-mate Chaz, and secretly nursing a crush on sweet, geeky Murphy. Her two best friends are closer to her than sisters, and she "hates hating" her soap opera-addicted mom, wishing "she would show half as much interest in my life as she does in Luke and Laura's." In other words, Sophie is a typical teenage girl. What is not so typical is how author Sonia Sones records all of Sophie's thoughts in a freewheeling verse that is such a naked outpouring of inner longing, most readers will blush in embarrassed recognition of their own remembered or current teenage desires. Sones gently leads both the reader and Sophie towards an understanding of the difference between love and lust as Sophie slowly comes to realize that Dylan's outsides are no match for Murphy's insides. Autobiographical of Sones, perhaps? The author claims it isn't so, and she's probably right. With her frank manner, lusty thoughts, and hidden insecurities, Sophie reflects many teenage girls, past and present. No woman will be able to read this heartfelt verse novel and not find a bit of herself in Sophie's secret, sexy thoughts. Sones's decadent, almost shamefully delicious collection of angst poems is a loving and amazingly accurate tribute to adolescent girlhood. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

*Starred Review* Drawing on the recognizable cadences of teenage speech, Sones (Stop Pretending) poignantly captures the tingle and heartache of being young and boy-crazy. The author keenly portrays ninth-grader Sophie's trajectory of lusty crushes and disillusionment whether she is gazing at Dylan's "smoldery dark eyes" or dancing with a mystery man to music that "is slow/ and/ saxophony." Best friends Rachel and Grace provide anchoring friendships for Sophie as she navigates her home life as an only child with a distant father and a soap opera-devotee mother whose "shrieking whips around inside me/ like a tornado." Some images of adolescent changes carry a more contemporary cachet, "I got my period I prefer/ to think of it as/ rebooting my ovarian operating system," others are consciously clich‚d, "my molehills/ have turned into mountains/ overnight" this just makes Sophie seem that much more familiar. With its separate free verse poems woven into a fluid and coherent narrative with a satisfying ending, Sophie's honest and earthy story feels destined to captivate a young female audience, avid and reluctant readers alike. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Age Range: 12 and up
  • Paperback: 259 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (February 1, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0689855532
  • ISBN-13: 978-0689855535
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (244 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

I highly recommend this book, especially for young teenage girls. J. M. Schubert  |  46 reviewers made a similar statement
This book was very interesting because of how it was written...in poem form. Anna  |  41 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An honest and heartbreaking book. July 29, 2004
Format:Hardcover
There have been a lot of books written in verse lately. Sonya Sones was one of the first, and still the best. Her first book, STOP PRETENDING: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy was a deep, sad and moving book. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW is a little different --- it's just as good, just not nearly as sad.

Sophie is 15 and as interested in boys as the rest of us. She finally gets asked out by Dylan, the boy of her dreams, and totally knows it's true love. But then she starts noticing weirdness. Like she's taller than him, he actually watches the movie on their dates, and he doesn't want her telling his parents she's Jewish. Sophie doesn't feel right about Dylan, but she also likes him and doesn't want to end it. In an attempt to find something else, Sophie begins an online romance, and I won't even tell you how that turns out! Let's just say it gives her the push she needs to move on from Dylan to...Murph.

But liking Murph turns out to be a whole lot harder than liking Dylan. To put it bluntly, Murph is a total dork --- he's so uncool that people say, "Don't be such a Murph," when they mean "Don't be such a geek." So why is Sophie thinking of him every minute? And how is she going tell her friends that she likes the biggest loser in school? Deep down she knows that if she doesn't come clean with her feelings for Murph she'll be as bad as everyone else who makes fun of him --- but still, it won't be easy.

WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW is an honest and heartbreaking book about a girl being true to herself, trusting her friends, and having the strength to love what makes her heart happy. Sones's lovely poems are so good that I'd say she must be a poet first and a storyteller second --- except that her story is also that good! Sones really captures the nervousness of dating a guy, the way friends can get jealous, the sorrow at realizing that you just don't like him anymore, and finding the strength to love what makes your heart happy. We should all be so brave.

--- Reviewed by Kate Torpie
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars sonya sones at her best August 13, 2006
Format:Paperback
This is the story of Sophie, who is a typical teenage girl. She is on the path to finding her true love, but it's not as easy as it seems. First there's Lou, who drools, then sexy Dylan, then her "cybersoulmate," Chaz. But then, at the Halloween dance, she finds someone she connects with, but he's masked. She makes it her personal mission to find her masked man. When she does, she is shocked, but not as repelled as she first thinks. This book is told entirely in free verse, and is a quick read, but is very realistic about the power of peer pressure, and very touching.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars ~* the perfect book on the mind of a teenage girl! March 5, 2002
By "jnini"
Format:Hardcover
Wow, "what my mom doesn't know" is among one of the TOP books I read recently. It tells the story of Sophie, a 15 years old girl. Through Sonya Sones, I was able to see the life and struggles of a teenage girl such as, fights with her mother, her appearances, and her love life, which I also found parts of me inside of Sophie as a 16 years old. As the story progresses, I felt as if I was living through the experiences also. It's mainly because of the format that the book is written in. Sonya Sones tells the mind and feelings of Sophie through direct, bold and honest poems. With so little words she describes the important moments clearly and perfectly but yet the words she chose were also so powerful. You would honestly have to read it yourself to understand what I really mean. I finished this book in no time, because the author really knows how to let me keep flipping onto the next page, wanting to find out what happens next. Aniways, enough said, this is a really sweet and touching story of a teenage girl whom I believe all of us would discover little pieces of ourselves from her, no matter past or future.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Simple and Sweet
I was working on my Top Ten Self Published Bestsellers post and came across this little gem, shown as a mover and a shaker. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Lori Clark
5.0 out of 5 stars Glad I read it
When I first started this book, I was a bit annoyed that there were not full pages and long chapters like I usually like to read. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Sydney Warch
2.0 out of 5 stars What My Mother Would Be Bored to Know
I was expecting a lot more juice with a title like that. I enjoyed the book and the storyline but it was very limited.
Published 10 days ago by Marisamk
4.0 out of 5 stars fun book
this is a fun and cute book that I enjoyed reading as it was different than my usual type. a good light hearted book for all girls and women to enjoy.
Published 10 days ago by Teresa L. Moorman
4.0 out of 5 stars What My Mother Doesn't know
I like Sonya's language. It comes very natural, her verses speak to me as if we're sitting down and she is telling me the story.
Published 10 days ago by catherine
3.0 out of 5 stars Not very captivating
My daughter, who loves to read, couldn't really get into this book. She liked the idea of the book but wasn't very excited by it.
Published 15 days ago by David McKee
2.0 out of 5 stars Decent
It was a simple book to read. I thought it was predictable ans somewhat boring. I read it in an hour and wasn't impressed.
Published 20 days ago by Bethany Dieterle
3.0 out of 5 stars Sweet!
I loved the build-up of romance for Fee, and the end was very satisfying. I also loved the theme of art and how important it was to her and Robin. Read more
Published 23 days ago by C Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Review: What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
What really struck a chord with me in this book is that it's a free-verse novel. I feel that Sones' decision to write this novel in verse instead of prose makes it stand out from... Read more
Published 25 days ago by Robert Zimmermann
5.0 out of 5 stars Free verse used well, PG 13
I prefer poetry that tells a story, like Hiawatha or Canterbury Tales. I enjoy some of Billy Collins free verse, but on average most is unmemorable because as a whole they don't... Read more
Published 1 month ago by lower@sedona.net
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