What My Mother Doesn't Know

Sones, Sonya. 2001. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9780689855535

This verse novel is a look at the secret thoughts of Sophie, a normal teenage girl, as she goes throughout a year in high school.

Teenage girls will be able to relate to the strong emotions written about in this book. Sophie writes about her confusion in regards to her feelings for both Dylan and her cyber friend “Chaz.” On page 97 she writes, “I could just be /enjoying this thing with Chaz /totally and completely, /without one /single /speck /of guilt,/If it weren’t for Dylan.”

She also writes about how her parent’s fighting makes her feel. She writes, “Their shrieking whips around inside me like a tornado. And no fingers crammed in my ears, no pillows held over my head, can block it out. She also writes about being in love and how she feels when she finds out the truth about her cyber-boyfriend.

The format of this book is easy to follow. The chapters, which seem like journal entries will appeal to teenage readers. They will also appeal to reluctant readers because they are fairly short. Even though there are many different poems they fit together nicely to create a story that is easy to follow. This book is also a quick read, perfect for a rainy day. This book is set in recent times. The use of the internet to chat with others and email friends clues the reader in to this.

Teenagers that read this book might be surprised to find out that they are not the only ones with certain feelings and thoughts. In her review, Sharon Korbeck writes, “Sones's poems are glimpses through a peephole many teens may be peering through for the first time, unaware that others are seeing virtually the same new, scary, unfamiliar things…Sones's book makes these often-difficult years a little more livable by making them real, normal, and OK” (2001).

Reference List:

Korbeck, Sharon. “Review of What My Mother Doesn’t Know.” School Library Journal 47, no 10 (2001): 171.  http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2056/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=127&sid= 9dae787e-60cb-4eb3-b658-01d78b16409c%40sessionmgr115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc 3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=lih&AN=5318506.