What My Mother Doesn't Know

Bibliography

Sones, Sonya.  2001. What My Mother Doesn’t Know. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780689841140

Plot Summary

What My Mother Doesn’t Know is a novel that discusses a fifteen-year-old girl, Sophie, and her experience with friends, family, and the notion of love. Sophie, a popular student in her school, deals with parents who have a failing marriage as well as her mother suffering from depression. Sophie is on a quest to find the one she loves while still keeping true to her identity and looking past the stereotypes. Sophie finds herself falling in love with her first crush, Dylan, which then takes a sour turn. We see Sophie learn and develop her own character and she introduces more crushes. Will Sophie find Mr. Right? Sophie challenges her thoughts on stereotypes as she searches for the right boy.

Critical Analysis

            The free verse novel is created in short poems on each page that consist of brief words but evokes emotion as it shares Sophies’ story. The colloquial story is relatable to many middle school and young adult readers as Sophies. It makes reading poetry enjoyable while sharing the thoughts of a teenager’s life. The verse novel develops character growth as Sophie expresses her dilemma and coming to her own realization of her identity.

            The story created in first person limited-omniscient allows readers to understand the emotions and feelings of Sophie. Along with that, Sophie being interested in three different boys while not knowing her fate or their characters creates mystery and a narrative for readers. This hooks the readers into finding out what dangers she may face as well as her fate with love.

            Overall, the verse novel would be suitable for young adults and a means to introduce verse novel poetry as a narrative.

Review excerpts and awards

From Kirkus Reviews: ““Laid out in a series of mostly free-verse poems, however, the text gets at the emotional state of this girl so completely and with such intensity that a conventional narrative framework would simply dilute the effect."

From Booklist: “The poetry is never pretentious or difficult; on the contrary, the very short, sometimes rhythmic lines make each page fly.  Sophie’s voice is colloquial and intimate and the discoveries she makes are beyond formula, even while they are as sweetly romantic as popular song.  A natural for reluctant readers, this will also attract young people who love to read.”

Connections

Read the sequel What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

Connections in the classroom

Compare/Contrast What My Mother Doesn’t Know and What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know. Share the two different perspectives: Sophies and Robin/Murphy.

Students can create their own form of journaling and practice free verse poetry while expressing and conveying their emotions.