What my Mother Doesn't Know

What My Mother Doesn't Know

Bibliography: 

Sones, Sonya. 2001. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW. New York. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780689855535

Plot Summary:

Told as a series of poems, WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW, by Sonya Sones, is one of the popular verse novels for young adults. The story centers around fifteen year-old Sophie and her quest for love – and her mother’s acceptance. Sophie spends the beginning of her school year progressing through a series of torrid love affairs with all the teenage angst one would expect to find among people her age. Then at the Halloween Dance, a masked man mysteriously enters her world; and, just as mysteriously, exits, leaving Sophie “wondering if there could be such a thing as ‘love at first dance.’”  Who could the Masked Man be? And, just as importantly in the mind of this teenage woman, will her friends Rachel and Grace accept him? 

Just as Sophie starts off on what may be the most important journey of her life, she has a falling out with her mother. Though Sophie’s family has never been close-knit - her mother prefers watching soap operas to the company of her husband or to that of her daughter; and Sophie cannot remember her father ever kissing her or hugging her – she yearns for a closeness towards her parents that might help guide her on her difficult and, at times, terrifying journey towards love. 

As Winter Break begins, Sophie finds herself alone. Rachel and Grace have traveled to warmer environs. Her parents have self-exiled themselves: her mother to her world of Soaps; her father to his world of business. Alone and lonely, Sophie decides to take herself on a Tour of Boston Vacation. There she bumps into Murphy, a classmate who everyone finds “too pitiful to even bother making fun of.” As Sophie and Murphy explore Boston, sharing their common interest of art along the way, Sophie starts to feel the unexpected. Where will this lead?  And, what will become of her mysterious “Masked Man”?

Sones uses her exceptional grasp of what it means to a teenager to be in love to answer these questions.

Critical Analysis:

The poet Sonya Sones presents Sophie as a dynamic character. The reader can follow the changes in Sophie’s thinking, behavior, and mood as the story progresses. By the story’s end, Sophie has transformed from the “typical” teenage girl, someone who values the approval of her peers above all others and who judges her books by their covers, to a sophisticated young woman who makes her own decisions and is true to herself and the love she has found. Sophie discovers it does not matter what other people think of her. Through Sophie, Sones shows young readers trying to be something they are not, that it is okay to be different; that it is important, as Shakespeare put it, “To thine own self be true.” In addition to the stress Sophie feels of maintaining relationships between friends and boyfriends, she struggles to understand her mother and, in return, to be understood by her. Their relationship is strained to the point of Sophie accepting that “What my mother doesn’t know won’t hurt me.” Sophie finally finds the paternal presence missing from her life in the unexpected form of Murphy’s mother and father. 

Sones uses language and imagery to elicit from the reader strong emotions. Through poetry, specifically free verse, she has achieved what might have been lost had she written in the more conventional style found in novels and short stories.  She also uses the poems structure, that is to say, the way in which the words are laid on the page, to convey meanings of confusion and enlightenment, to name a few. And, though a hand full of the poems do follow a rhyming scheme, Sones use of free verse makes the story’s imagery and character development that much more believable.  

Review Experts:

A Junior Library Guild Selection

International Reading Association Young Adult's Choice 2003

2001 Booklist Editor's Choice

American Library Association 2002 Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

American Library Association 2002 Best Book for Young Adults 

"A verse experience that will leave readers sighing with recognition and satisfaction" Kirkus Reviews.

"honest...destined to captivate" Publishers Weekly.

Connections:

Other books of Sonya Sones:

WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN'T KNOW.

ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS, WHERE THE MOTHER DIES.

STOP PRETENDING: WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY.