8) What My Mother Doesn't Know

Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn't Know. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001

Annotation: Sophie is in love. Or at least she thought she was. Even though she is dating the best looking guy in school, Dylan, she keep dreaming of the strange outcast Murphy. With the help of her best friends, a little trial and error, Sophie starts to figure out just who she wants - and who she is becomming.

Reason for Rejection: It's easy to understand the appeal of What My Mother Doesn't Know, especially to teenage girls. It's a remarkably easy to read story, written almost entirely in verse, that deals with such stalwart teenage issues as love, new love, sex, and authenticity. While it speaks frankly and often humorously in an authentic voice, the book fails to rise above casual teenage "high school" drama and does not offer more than the genre has come to expect.

The characters, specifically Sophie the protagonist, is one of the books strongest points. She is bright and extroverted, voiced to near verisimilitude by Sones is manner that captures the tenor and cadence of the average teen girl. The reader can share her optimism and nervousness about teenage 'boy decisions' while glimpsing the woman that is beginning to think a little more globally. The supporting characters, while not nearly as well-developed, are all likable and serve the story well. Many teens will find themselves or their friends in pieces of these characters.

The plot, however, is contrastingly lacking in this novel. It focuses around Sophie moving from her first real boyfriend to her second, and then her third. The biggest problem here is that conflict is almost nonexistent within the story. The most significant challenge that Sophie faces is the fleeting guilt she feels for breaking up with her perfect boyfriend. Just when the story seems to be heading is a direction that will actually challenge Sophie, the moment is neatly resolved before she or the reader has a change to stew in the conflict.

In many ways, Sones has created a textbook wish-fulfillment for teen girls, full of the permissible lust and passive drama that fills many a journal. Unfortunately, there is simply not enough meat on the bone to make this a memorable read - likely to leave many readers forgetting about the characters and events in the book as soon as they put it down. Ultimately, the coming of age story here lacks the genuine struggle that other books in the genre transcend greatness.

Genre: Printz, Coming of Age, Poetry/Verse, Censored, Challenged and Banned Books