One Of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Sounds hideous... right?

Well, I most certainly thought it was going to be.

I had seen Sonya Sones' books before, mind you. The newest covers are so colorful and my grabby, grabby hands always, ALWAYS grab for them every time I see them! And the titles are so fun and quirky (ex. What My Mother Doesn't Know...)! I swear, they've always made me WANT to read them.

But then I flip around a little bit, and then BAM. I realize it's all in verse form!

WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THAT?

Now, I'm not anti-poetry. I don't hate it. Really. I TOLERATE it. It's just not my cup of tea.

So I put whichever I picked up back. Forget about it. And move on with my life. Until the next time I see one, and the cycle starts all over again. Rinse, lather, and repeat (if needed).

Well the point of that horribly unnecessary story is that I don't like poetry/verse all that much. Also, I can be forgetful. Therefore I had forgotten completely about Sonya Sones and the fact that her books are in verse form. My lit group chose to read her books. I found out she was the author who wrote the verse novels.

FAIL.

I was so miffed! But once I calmed down, got my book, read the inside cover once or twice, I was ready to tackle One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. I started slowly, but after a couple of pages, I got really into it. Like... REALLY into it. I was at my boyfriend's at the time, and he and his friend were watching a football game while I was reading. And near the end of my book, I may have gasped and yelled at what I was reading more than they were at the game.

In short, very enjoyable. Entertaining and highly nostalgic, mostly due to the fact that I still remember exactly what it's like to think and talk and act like a teenage girl.

Now-- BRIEF SUMMARY TIME.

Girl named Ruby has awesome best friend and awesome boyfriend and awesome aunt and awesome mom. Awesome mom dies. Ruby now must leave awesome friend and awesome boyfriend and go live with not-so-awesome dad who abandoned Ruby before she was even born. Ruby is not feeling so awesome.

She rides the teenage hormonal roller coaster of emotions throughout the book and finds out things about her parents and herself that she didn't know.

Happy ending.

Yay.

END SUMMARY.

Hmm... I'm trying to think of all the points I want to cover/summarize/make a point of...

1. Cute book, fast read, especially for teenage girls.

2. I recommend NOT putting too much emphasis on the fact that this is a 'verse novel'.

Yes, it's in verse. Yes, each poem TECHNICALLY can stand alone and be worth something as is. But in my humble opinion, they wouldn't be worth all that much alone. Maybe a penny? As poetry in the broadest sense of the term, it just wasn't very good.

Thankfully, the story and characters are fun and interesting enough that you stop paying attention to the poems. I sure did. I freakin' plowed through this baby. Didn't put it down 'til I was finished. I half-forgot that I was reading a bunch of poems.

Except for one part, where an earthquake is occurring, and the words are scattered across the page instead of straight down in a boring ole column-- and effect that REALLY struck me as being super nifty. I appreciated the verse-ness of the novel there. But nowhere else, really.

My point is basically to not take this book as poetry. You'll be disappointed. I don't want you to be disappointed. So listen to what I say! Allow yourself to be entertained and don't look too deeply into the quality, and you'll have a blasty blast.

3. I don't think have a three. Well gosh darn it.