Book cover accessed from: goodreads.comBibliographic data:
Sones, Sonya. 2004. ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR. ISBN 978-0-689-85820-8 (hc); ISBN 978-1-4169-0788-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-439-10757-7 (eBook)
Summary:
Ruby Milliken, age 15, loses her mother and reluctantly has to move to Los Angeles to live with her father; a father, who is a famous movie star, and divorced her mother before Ruby was born. Ruby’s life is totally turned upside down leaving behind her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother’s grave in Boston.
Critical analysis:
The arrangement of lines and verses in ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES brings to light, in a first person point of view, what Ruby is going through after losing her mother…”sometimes I still can’t believe that you are not coming back”/"…most days, /I wander around Lakewood feeling invisible./Like I'm just a speck of dust/floating in the air/that can only be seen/when a shaft of light hits it.” The use of free-verse style is appealing and does not feel forced or sacrifices word meaning. The words in the poems seem to be carefully chosen for individual and collective effect as the drama in each of the poems create the narrative of Ruby’s move from Boston to California, her coping with the loss of her mother, best friend, and boyfriend in addition to living with a father whom she doesn’t know "…whether/ to ask him for his autograph, / kick him in the balls, / or run.” The surprising choices in language and the use of free-verse is fresh and arranged in vivid and meaningful ways that allow us to feel the emotions and experiences that Ruby has to deal with. Sonas’ use of sensory words creates visually vivid mental pictures that are surprising and unexpected and have grown from her creative and unique use of language…”I listen to her crying for a few seconds, then I hang up the phone/ and shatter--/like a windshield in a head-on collision.” The poems that make up this poignant narrative make us feel an emotional impact and connection with what Ruby felt or is feeling while she tries to come to terms with all the changes that are taking place in her life all at once. We are able to feel all the drama, pain, sorrow, and eventually happiness that Ruby experiences. The theme is one that will appeal to hesitant readers as much as to those who love to read. It is fiction and it is recommended for age 12+.
Review excerpt(s):
School Library Journal, 08/01/2004
Gr 7-10 –In one- to two-page breezy poetic prose-style entries, 15-year-old Ruby Milliken describes her flight from Boston to California and her gradual adjustment to life with her estranged movie-star father following her mother's death. E-mails to her best friend, her boyfriend, and her mother ("in heaven") and outpourings of her innermost thoughts display her overwhelming unhappiness and feelings of isolation, loss, and grief ("…most days,/I wander around Lakewood feeling invisible./Like I'm just a speck of dust/floating in the air/that can only be seen/when a shaft of light hits it"). Ruby's affable personality is evident in her humorous quips and clever wordplays. Her depth of character is revealed through her honest admissions, poignant revelations, and sensitive insights. This is not just another one of those gimmicky novels written in poetry. It's solid and well written, and Sones has a lot to say about the importance of carefully assessing people and situations and about opening the door to one's own happiness. Despite several predictable particulars of plot, Ruby's story is gripping, enjoyable, and memorable.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH School Library Journal, A Reed Business Information Publication[3]
Publishers Weekly, 06/21/2004
This winning portrayal of a teenage girl's loves and losses, written in Sones's (What My Mother Doesn't Know ) signature free-verse style, opens as 15-year-old Ruby is en route from Boston to L.A. ("Hell A" as she calls it). Following her mother's untimely death (in a poem called "Maybe You're Wondering About It," Ruby furiously says, "But that's just tough./ Because I'm not even going to go in / to how she died"), Ruby leaves behind her best friend Lizzie and her boyfriend Ray, to live with a father she's never met. Whip Logan, a famous actor, seems anxious to kindle a relationship; however, when Ruby meets him, she thinks: "I don't know whether/ to ask him for his autograph,/ kick him in the balls,/ or run." The scene in California proves "deeply surreal": neighbor Cameron Diaz pops over, Brad Pitt grins at her in the local bookstore, and at the high school she enrolls in "Dream Interpretation Through the Ages." The only person Ruby feels comfortable with is her father's live-in "assistant/slash personal trainer," Max, whom Ruby believes is gay. Sones gives the audience clear signals of what Ruby can't allow herself to take in. Readers will accept some melodrama because, even with a few contrivances, Ruby's voice conveys genuine emotions. Ages 12-up. (May) Publishers Weekly, A Reed Business Information Publication[3]
BookList, 05/01/2004
Gr. 7-12. After the death of her mother, high-schooler Ruby is sent from Boston to L.A. to live with the father she has never met: "He's such a scumbag / that he divorced my mother / before I was even born." The "scumbag" is Whip Logan, a famous movie actor, but Ruby is too angry to be impressed; at the airport she wonders whether to "ask him for his autograph, / or kick him in the balls." Sones' latest free-verse novel follows Ruby through her first few months in her new home, a mansion where her every desire is granted--except what she longs for most: her best friend, her boyfriend, and of course, her mother. Sones' novel is an unusual combination of over-the-top Hollywood fairy tale and sharp, honest story about overcoming grief. Teens may predict the novel's surprises long before Ruby discovers them, including a revelation about Whip's sexuality, and, as in every fairy tale, many things are too good to be true--especially Whip's eager devotion and celebrity. It's Ruby's first-person voice--acrimonious, raw, and very funny--that pulls everything together, whether she is writing e-mails to her deceased mother, attending Dream Analysis class at a private L.A. high school, or finally learning to accept her father and embrace a new life. A satisfying, moving novel that will be a winner for both eager and reluctant readers. -- Gillian Engberg. Booklist, published by the American Library Association.[3]
Kirkus Reviews, 05/01/2004
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. (Fiction. 12+) Copyright 2004, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved[3]
Connections:Book Club Discussion Questions for: ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES [7]
1.
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If you could be BFFs with one character in the book, who would it be and why?
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2.
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Do you think Ruby was too hard on Whip, or was she just giving him what he deserved for all those years of neglect?
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3.
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Why do you think the author chose Hollywood as the backdrop of this particular story?
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4.
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Has anyone you’ve ever been really close to died? How did you deal with your grief? How does Ruby deal with her grief?
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5.
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Have you ever moved from one place to another place that was really different? How did you deal with your culture shock? How does Ruby deal with her culture shock?
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6.
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During the course of the story, Ruby’s attitude towards California changes. How can you tell?
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7.
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Have you ever been stunned when you found out that something that you thought was one way, turned out to be completely different? How did you deal with the surprise? How does Ruby deal with her own surprise?
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8.
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Do you think Ruby has the right attitude towards Lizzie at the end of the book? Did Ruby do the right thing by saying what she did in her last email to Lizzie?
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9.
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Did you guess Whip’s secret before he told it to Ruby? If so, what were the hints that clued you in?
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*Students can create their own journal of poems
*Students can create a dream journal, just as Ruby did in the book
Other books by Sonya Sones:
WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW
WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T’ KNOW
Awards: [8]
winner of the Tennessee Volunteer State Teen Read Award (2006)
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winner of the Iowa Golden Apple Teen Read Award (2006)
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winner of the Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2005–2006)
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winner of the New Hampshire Isinglass Teen Read Award (2005–2006)
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winner of the South Carolina Mustang Book Award (2005)
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winner of the 2004 Cuffie Award from Publishers Weekly for the Best Book Title of the Year
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chosen a Popular Paperback for Young Adults by the American Library Association
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named an International Reading Association Young Adults’ Choice (2006)
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named a 2005 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association
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named a 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers by the American Library Association
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nominated by the American Library Association to be a 2004 Teens’ Top Ten Book
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named an Honor Book by the Society of School Librarians International (2004)
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chosen a Kliatt Editor’s Choice: Best of 2004 Hardcover Fiction
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chosen a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Teen Book List (2004)
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chosen a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age (2005)
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chosen for the New York State Charlotte Award Suggested Reading List 2006
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chosen a Westchester’s Choice List: Best Young Adult Book (2005)
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chosen for the Texas Tayshas High School Reading List 2005–2006
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chosen a YASIG Best of the Best (Missouri)
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chosen a Kansas State Reading Circle Senior High School Titles Top Pick 2005
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chosen a Pennsylvania School Librarian Association (PSLA) “Top Ten (Or So)” Young Adult Books 2004
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chosen a PSLA Young Adult Top 40 Fiction List 2004
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chosen an Amazon.com Top Ten Editor’s Pick for Teens (2004)
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chosen a Top Ten Summer Read by Girl’s Life Magazine (2004)
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nominated for the following state awards:
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Bibliographies:
1. Grandits, John. 2004. Technically, it's not my fault : concrete poems. Clarion Books, 2004. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 5, 2011).
2. Grimes, Nikki, and Shane Evans. 2007. When Gorilla goes walking. Orchard Books, 2007. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 5, 2011).
3. Sones, Sonya. 2004. One of those hideous books where the mother dies. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 5, 2011).
8. Grimes, Nikki. (2007). WHEN GORILLA GOES WALKING. Ill. By Shane Evans. New York: Orchard Books. ISBN -13: 978-0-439-31770-2 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-439-31770-3
[1] John Grandits. 2004. Technically, it's not my fault: concrete poems. Clarion Books, 2004. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 5, 2011).
[2] Nikki Grimes and Shane Evans. 2007. When Gorilla goes walking. Orchard Books, 2007. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 5, 2011).
[3] Sones, Sonya. 2004. One of those hideous books where the mother dies. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 5, 2011).
[5] Ibid.
[7]Sonya Sones webpage. www.sonyasones.com http://www.sonyasones.com/books/oneofthose/readguide.html
[10] Grimes, Nikki. (2007). WHEN GORILLA GOES WALKING. Ill. By Shane Evans. New York: Orchard Books. ISBN -13: 978-0-439-31770-2 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-439-31770-3
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