Jessica Sherwood’s Reading Review

Review for: One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones. Genre: contemporary, fiction, humor, poetry. Published by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group May 2004. Theme: appearance vs. reality. "Winning portrayal of a teenage girl's loves and losses."-Publishers Weekly. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies is about a girl named Ruby Milliken. Ruby is sent away from her home in Massachusetts, her boyfriend, and her best friend after her mother dies to go live with the one person she hates. Whip Logan, her famous movie star dad that in fifteen years, never bothered to visit her. Ruby is set on not forgiving her father and hating him for eternity, but after settling down in Hollywood, she learns of the behind the scenes reasons why. Even though this book covers most teenage dramas, Ruby still makes it hilarious to read. Ruby gives her blunt but entertaining views on her life in poem format. I do have to disagree with the reason why the mother hated homosexuals. Yes, there was a strong emotional feeling behind it, but I do not agree with her saying all of them are bad people. It came off quite childish to me for an adult, but it made her seem more human with that flaw. The book suggests that children should try to form a better relationship with their parents. Ruby does not understand her father that well in the beginning of the book. But as the story progresses, secretes unravel and she starts to understand the situation. Ruby has to decide to forgive her father or not. Though it leaves out the matter of maintaining such a relationship. This book affected me by making me try harder to understand other people’s feelings, even if I do not agree with them. The book also made me think about my dreams more. In the book, Ruby takes a dream class where she has to interpret her dreams. I tried this technique out and it sometimes helps. I found it interesting that there was a way to interpret dreams. I can really relate to not being on good terms with my own dad. He gets me angry sometimes and we fight, but we some how manage to make up. We just have to share our views on the subject to try to understand each other better. I recommend this book to anyone who has any parental problems but does not want to get depressed while reading. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies has a serious message with a good sense of humor.