Sunday, June 28, 2009

GENRE 3: one of those hideous books where the mother die by Sonya Sones

Bibliography
Sones, Sonya. 2004. one of those hideous books where the mother dies. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689858205

Plot Summary
Ruby Milliken has just lost her mother and is forced to move to Los Angeles to live with her father, Whip Logan, who is a famous movie star. Ruby believes her father to be a jerk and all-around deadbeat dad for divorcing her mother and refusing to see her. The loss of her best friend and boyfriend in the move to Los Angeles adds fuel to Ruby’s resolve to keep her father at arm’s length, despite their many shared interests. In an attempt to cope with her unresolved emotions at her mother’s death, Ruby begins writing emails to her about school and her life with Whip. As the school year progresses, Ruby makes new friends, comes to terms with her mother’s death, is betrayed by loved ones, and learns that things aren’t always what they seem and that everyone deserves a chance at a new beginning.

Critical Analysis
Sones’s free verse novel captures the essence of a teenager in the midst of conflict. Narrated by the main character, Ruby Milliken, the novel uses sparse prose in a poetic way to present a picture of a teen dealing with conflicts at home, school, and with friends. Sones manages to capture the teen persona through Ruby’s witty observations and sarcastic style, thus making the narrator a believable and likable character. Without being heavy-handed, Sones captures Ruby’s emotions as they vacillate between hope, insecurity, loss, isolation, anger, and happiness. The free verse format is interspersed with letters and emails written to Ruby’s best friend and mother, providing a nice break from the prose and offering greater insight into Ruby’s emotional state. Though the novel’s free verse format makes for an easy read, Sones manages to infuse the novel with vocabulary and idioms that give the novel voice and character. Readers will enjoy Sones’s novel for its humor and witty observations on the Hollywood lifestyle, as well as the genuine and poignant presentation of a teenager growing up.

Review Excerpt(s)
Named an International Reading Association Young Adults’ Choice (2006)

Named a 2005 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association

KLIATT - “YAs will love this book…”

School Library Journal – “…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.”

Connections
- Consider having students discuss the various ways Ruby dealt with her emotions in the novel, and then have them brainstorm other constructive and destructive ways to deal with emotions.
- Have students discuss the aspects of the Hollywood lifestyle depicted in the book and evaluate whether such depictions are realistic.
- Create a mini-research project in which students research organizations and agencies that help teenagers deal with the loss of a loved one or other difficult issues in their lives. As an extension, have them create a chart that compares and contrasts the services provided by the agencies.

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