MODULE 15: What My Mother Doesn't Know

Genre:

Banned Books

Book Summary:

Fresh from her break-up with boyfriend Lou, 15-year-old Sophie meets dreamy Dylan who more than passes approval from her friends. However, Sophie is not sure that Dylan is the one for her and begins an online romance with Chaz. After breaking up with Dylan and realizing Chaz is a pervert, she meets a mysterious masked man at the school dance. She also wonders about Murphy, the geeky art student who she spends time with during the holiday break. In the end, Sophie decides to follow her heart, despite what her friends think, and go for the one guy who she cannot stop thinking about.

APA Reference of Book:

Sones, S. (2001). What my mother doesn’t know. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Impressions:

I love Sophie and her spirit. She is a typical teenager but she’s Jewish which sets her apart from her peers. She is definitely boy crazy and there a few references that I suppose could be questioned. She finds “dirty” novels and has an online relationship. She talks with her friends about sex and “lackonookie disease.” She discusses self-arousal and does a lot of kissing. Sones covers just about every teenage issue in this book and I love the unabashed honesty of Sophie’s narration.  I think the verse style works in this situation and feels more like a stream of consciousness or diary than a novel. Even if I had a problem with some of the other references, I absolutely love that she follows her heart in the end, despite what her friends might think. I also think it’s interesting that although written in 2001, this story still resonates with teens today.

Professional 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 cliched, "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. (Oct.)

APA Reference of Professional Review:

Roback, D., Brown, J. M., & Britton, J. (2001). What my mother doesn't know. Publishers Weekly, 248(42), 72.

Library Uses:

This could be featured during Banned Book Week or during poetry month.

Readalikes:

What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones – The sequel to What My Mother Doesn’t Know is told from Murphy’s point of view as he navigates his new relationship with Sophie. 

Gossip Girl series, by Cecily von Ziegesar – The characters in this series may be over privileged Upper East Siders, but they have the same the teen issues as everyone else.

The You I’ve Never Known, by Ellen Hopkins – Ariel believes her mother left her but her world is turned upside down when her mother shows up and claims that Ariel’s father kidnapped her.