One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

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 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sones, Sonya. One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies. New York, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers: 2004. ISBN: 0689858205

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Ruby Milliken’s mother just died, and she is being forced to go and live with her movie-star father, Whip Logan, whom she has never known. She is being uprooted from her life in Boston, and moving three thousand miles across the country - away from her best friend, her boyfriend, and her aunt - to Los Angeles. When she arrives, her father, “who is such a scumbag / that he divorced my mother / before I was even born” is glad to see her and eager to take care of her. Ruby makes it clear that she is not glad to see him, and she does not want much to do with him either. Her father has enrolled her in a school full of other celebrities’ children, and she finds the people and atmosphere quite strange. Her only refuge and source of happiness in L.A. is Max, her father’s “assistant slash personal trainer slash all-round lifesaver.” As the book progresses, Ruby is devastated when she finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend. Her world is caving in, but Whip is there to comfort her and prove to her that he is not the scumbag she thinks he is. In fact, he has wanted to be a father to her all along.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Sonya Sones uses free-style poetry to write about a heavy topic - a grieving teenager. The free-style verse allows her to address this subject both creatively and honestly. Each poem is one to two pages long, with stanzas ranging from one to 10 lines each. The poems read easily, like a story, and flow well from one to another. Mixed in with the poems are emails exchanged between Ruby, her best friend, and her boyfriend, and from Ruby to her dead mother.

Sones uses repetition to help the reader understand Ruby’s emotional state. She repeats the phrase, “I’m not that depressed, / considering ...” throughout the book to show how bad things are for her - so bad that she should be more depressed than she already is. In each letter to her mother, Ruby repeats the phrase, “How are things …” and finishes it in different ways - “six feet under?” “in Kingdom Come?” “in Decomposeville?” Her repetition of this question emphasizes her mother's current location and the finality of her death.

The use of free-style poetry, mixed with Sones’s play on words throughout the novel allows the reader to experience the emotions of this 15-year old girl - in all of her immaturity, playfulness, and grief. Ruby refers to L.A. as “El Lay” and “Hell A.” She calls the west coast “west toast.” She refers to Monday morning as “Monday mourning.” She calls her best friend Liz by multiple names - Lizzerella, Lizzandra, Lizard, Lizistrata, etc. In the poem entitled, “Things I Am Thankful For,” she writes nothing. The page is blank. Ruby is a typical teenage girl who is calling life as she sees it, and Sones uses this language to summon the reader to experience it with her.

A major theme in this book is misconceptions. From the beginning of the novel, Ruby thinks her dad is a horrible person. All she knows of him is that he divorced her mom before she was born, he has never come to visit her - which she interprets as not wanting to visit her or be in her life, and he’s a superficial celebrity. However, we find out in the end that he loved her all along, but Ruby’s mother wouldn’t allow him to be a part of her life. Ruby learns that things aren’t always as they seem. Her dad isn’t the deadbeat that he seemed to be, but a heartbroken father who wanted more than anything to know his daughter.

There’s also a theme of forgiveness throughout the novel. Ruby is angry at her aunt for not letting her live with her. She says, “You deserter. / You traitor. / You scum of the universe. / You call yourself an aunt?” She is angry at her father for not being a father to her. When the paparazzi catches them on their way out of the airport and her father apologizes for it, she says to herself, “Is that all you’re sorry for, Whip?” However, in the end of the novel he tells her just how sorry he is - for everything. Ruby forgives him. Throughout the book Ruby was physically unable to cry, but once she forgives her dad, her tears keep coming. It’s as though forgiveness breaks open the lock she’s had on her heart all this time. In the end, she forgives her dad, she forgives her best friend, and she forgives her mom. She says, “It’s funny. / I can remember hating palm trees. / I can even remember hating Coolifornia. / I just can’t remember / why.”

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2005 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association

From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL - “Ruby's story is gripping, enjoyable, and memorable”

From BOOKLIST - “A satisfying, moving novel that will be a winner for both eager and reluctant readers.”

5. CONNECTIONS

Gather other books written by Sonya Sones to read such as:

• What My Mother Doesn’t Know. ISBN 1442493852

• To Be Perfectly Honest: A Novel Based On An Untrue Story. ISBN 0689876041
• Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy. ISBN 0064462188
• What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know. ISBN 1442493844

Have students write their own personal narrative in free verse.

Class discussion during reading: Do you think Whip Logan is as awful as Ruby makes him sound? Do you think he is a typical movie star? Support your opinion with evidence from the novel.