"What My Mother Doesn't Know" by Sonya Sones

I've loved this book for a long time now.  I first read it when I was in high school and my copy is covered with underlined and highlighted passages.  As I re-read it this time it was interesting to see the different colored ink marks and to know what I was thinking each time I had read it way-back-when.  I'm glad to say that I loved reading Sonya Sones' What My Mother Doesn't Know as much now as I did then.

Sophie is a very average teenager.  She's dating a rather hot guy, hangs out with her best friends, and has great artistic ability.  Like many teens in YA lit, her home life isn't so great.  Her parents clearly aren't in love anymore- her dad travels a lot on business and her mother does little more than watch television.  Sophie is set apart because she is pretty much the only one at her school that doesn't make fun of the outcast student, Murphy.  Told in verse, this novel perfectly captures the emotions of a teenage girl.  I can easily believe that Sophie is a real person.  She isn't perfect.  She has flaws just like any teenager would.  Her feelings toward her boyfriend Dylan begin to waver.  She realizes that she doesn't know everything about life.  She also adapts to the obstacles life throws at her, even giving herself a "staycation" when her family doesn't go out of town for the holidays.  

I just have to rave about this book.  I have read all of Sones' Young Adult writing and just love her style.  She has the great ability to take what it is like to be a teenager in a not so great situation and place it beautifully onto a piece of paper.  I am so glad that we get to revisit Sophie and Murphy in the sequel What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know.  It's been awhile since Sones has put out another YA book so it looks like I'm going to have to make some time to read her novel, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus while I wait for more.   

Happy Reading!

-Melly