What My Mother Doesn't Know

my favorite part of this book is the way it is written in verse. it makes the book way more bearable to tackle and made poetry seem easier to understand and write. the verses were all different lengths, but flowed together nicely. the writer was perfect at finding a good place to stop the verses so that they weren't awkward or uncomfortable pauses.

I really don't like verse-style books. I think the writing is lazy and flat. There is no intimacy in the character development, and the story seems choppy. Books like this remind me too much of grading papers and writing over and over again, "more" or "explain" or "detail needed to be effective." ( )

Sophie expresses in verse her feelings and day to day experiences as a ninth grader.

My name is Sophie.
This book is about me.
It tells
the heart-stoppingly riveting story
of my first love.
And also of my second.
And, okay, my third love too.
It's not that I'm boy crazy.
It's just that even though
I'm almost fifteen
it's like
my mind
and my body
and my heart
just don't seem to be able to agree
on anything.

This an authentic book on the teen experience written completely in verse. This book took me back to my high school days. Fun times with friends, falling in and out of love, fear of judgement by peers, parents who fight, and so on. You won't want to put this book down. ( )