Sones, Sonya. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies.

Sones, Sonya. One of those hideous books where the mother dies. Simon & Schuster, Pulse. 268p. c2004. 1-4169-0788-2. $6.99. JS *

To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2004: Sones is a gifted writer of novels in poetry. (Her novel What My Mother Doesn't Know was selected as an ALA Best Book for YAs, and this one is an ALA Best Book as well.) Told in a series of brief poems interspersed with e-mails and letters, this could have been just another story about celebrity--the narrator's father is a famous movie star. It evolves into much more than that! Ruby is the narrator. Her parents were divorced before she was born and she never knew her father. Now her mother has died of cancer and the story begins as Ruby is flying to California from the East Coast to live with this father she despises because she thinks he deserted her and her mother. She is leaving behind a best friend and a boyfriend, and the loss of her mother and these close friends is enormous; yet, she is unable to cry, numbed by the trauma of her mother's death.

The story moves on to details of the luxury of her father's home and way of life, Ruby's private school, filled with children of celebrities, and Ruby's continuing rage, grief, and isolation. But, then things change, and finally Ruby is able to weep. The person who can comfort her is her father. When Ruby finally is willing to listen to him, she discovers he is quite different from the person she imagined him to be. YAs will love this book--for the emotional storms, for the details of life among the rich and famous, and for the basic character of Ruby--smart, responsible, resilient. Claire Rosser, KLIATT