One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (original 2004; edition 2005)

4Q, 4P. I have to admit that I was very skeptical when I picked this book up. It looked fluffy, not very interesting, and I worried that it would be hard to connect with the main character through the poetic format. I was wrong. After just a few pages, readers will find themselves drawn into Ruby's world - whether they want to be or not.

After her mother dies, Ruby finds herself in an airplane flying to live with her father (a major celebrity) who she's never even met. Filled with cynical wit, humor, and lots of heart, readers follow Ruby as she writes a series of poems and emails to herself, her best friend, her boyfriend, and even to her dead mother. Ruby's voice is perfectly written - she is a believable 15 year old that is neither stereotypical or idealized. Her grief is real, and her interactions with her estranged father are complex and raw feeling - just as they should be. ( )

This is a great Teen read (also good for the teen at heart!). The story is as entertaining as the protagonist's sometimes hillariously cynical prose. It is written in a poem format, so just for studies on different kinds of writing, it is worth a read and a look into the mind of a California-based teen (it really is like that out there).
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For the kind of book it is (a hideous book where the mother dies, in fact), it was pretty good. And as a novel in verse, it was pretty good. Will I remember details later on, and pass this along to all my friends? It wasn't THAT good. Three and a half stars. ( )

Femtonåriga Ruby får mycket motvilligt flytta till sin pappa i Hollywood efter att mamman dött efter en längre tids sjukdom. På östkusten lämnar hon sin fantastiske pojkvän Ray och sin bästa vän Lizzie. Hennes pappa är numera filmstjärna som skiljde sig från hennes mamma innan Rube ens var född.

Det nya livet i Hollywood är inte utan problem, speciellt relationen till hennes filmstjjärnefar är inte utan problem; vem som helst skulle väl känna sig ganska avigt inställd till en pappa som inte sökt kontakt under de första femton åren av ens liv. Handlingen är intressant med en spännande twist på slutet.

Sonya Sones är mästare på att skriva hela berättelser i ett format som snarare liknar diktens. Ungefär som en roman där allt onödigt svarvats bort, bara perfekta korta meningar återstår. Karaktärerna blir därför mycket levande och berättelsen får djup i det komprimerade formatet. Boken är därför att rekomendera för alla läsare, men speciellt för de som inte riktigt klarar av vanliga romaner men kommit förbi stadiet med de allra mest lättlästa böckerna. En bok som den här kan fungera som en brygga mellan lättlästa och vanliga romaner.

After Ruby's mother dies, she is shipped off to LA to live with her absent father who happens to be a famous movie star. Told in first-person poems covering Ruby's adjustment to her new life.

Ruby's situation is to the extreme, but any reader who has been a new student, lost someone they care about, or has trouble relating to their parents can sympathize. The poetry is very plot-based, and can serve as a palatable introduction to the form to wary readers. Though the poems occasionally make strange decisions on line breaks, there are equal instances of beautiful imagery. Pacing gets a bit slow in the third quarter of the book, and the plot is quite predictable.

However, because there are fewer quality books written in poetry, this title is still recommended for libraries serving high school populations. ( )