Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN Sones, S. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Library | YA FIC SON | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | TEEN SONES | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
My name is Sophie.This book is about me.It tellsthe heart-stoppingly riveting storyof 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 thoughI'm almost fifteenI've been having sort of a hard timetrying to figure out the differencebetween love and lust.It's likemy mindand my bodyand my heartjust don't seem to be able to agreeon anything.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-"My name is Sophie. This book is about me." With these words, Sonya Sones's novel (S & S, 2001) draws listeners into the private thoughts and longings of a ninth grade girl on the verge of finding love and learning what it means to mature. Dealing with a mother who immerses herself in the lives of her favorite soap stars, Sophie finds herself thinking about all the things her mother doesn't know about her, such as the fact that she's dating socially acceptable Dylan, though she has started daydreaming about a dorky boy named Murphy. When everyone else seems to leave town on a school break, Sophie has a blast with Murphy, and wonders if he is Mr. Right. Thoughts of her friends' reactions to the boy almost bring the new relationship to a halt. Told in Sophie's own free verse poems, the story moves and evolves quickly in a satisfying and tantalizing manner. Kate Reinders perfectly portrays Sophie's teen angst. Although the reading is sometimes too rapid for listeners to absorb the changes in topics, girls will relate to the author's honest prose and Sophie's angst. An excellent addition to YA collections.-Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Drawing on the recognizable cadences of teenage speech, Sones (Stop Pretending) poignantly captures the tingle and heartache of being young and boy-crazy. The author keenly portrays ninth-grader Sophie's trajectory of lusty crushes and disillusionment whether she is gazing at Dylan's "smoldery dark eyes" or dancing with a mystery man to music that "is slow/ and/ saxophony." Best friends Rachel and Grace provide anchoring friendships for Sophie as she navigates her home life as an only child with a distant father and a soap opera-devotee mother whose "shrieking whips around inside me/ like a tornado." Some images of adolescent changes carry a more contemporary cachet, "I got my period I prefer/ to think of it as/ rebooting my ovarian operating system," others are consciously clich?d, "my molehills/ have turned into mountains/ overnight" this just makes Sophie seem that much more familiar. With its separate free verse poems woven into a fluid and coherent narrative with a satisfying ending, Sophie's honest and earthy story feels destined to captivate a young female audience, avid and reluctant readers alike. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This novel chronicles the life and loves of eighth-grader Sophie in first-person free-verse poems. Sones tries a little too hard to be hip and her style is sometimes contrived, but overall the voice is fresh and honest, often transcending cool to realistically portray adolescent vulnerability. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
This year's umpteenth novel in verse begs the question, if the narrative were told in conventional prose, would it be worth reading? The answer in this instance is, maybe not, as it does little more than chronicle one ninth-grade girl's progression through boyfriends until she arrives at last at an unlikely Mr. Right. Laid out in a series of mostly free-verse poems, however, the text gets at the emotional state of this girl so completely and with such intensity that a conventional narrative framework would simply dilute the effect. Sophie's romantic travails take her from sexy Dylan (" . . . when he kisses me / all I feel is / the overwhelming / overness of it") through cyberdude Chaz ("If I could marry a font / I would definitely marry his") and friend-from-preschool Zak ("I hope I didn't embarrass him / when I laughed. / It's just that I thought he was kidding") to class dork Murphy ("I mean, / we're talking about Murphy here. / He's not exactly boyfriend material. / Is he?"). Along the way she must contend with casual anti-Semitism, her parents' failing marriage, and her mother's depression, but she is also bolstered by her friendship with Rachel and Grace. The verse format allows Sophie to interrogate and explore her feelings and relationships with quintessentially teenage ferocity: "I guess it wasn't how [his eyes] looked / that got to me. / It was how it felt / when they connected with mine- / like this door / was opening up inside of me / that had never been opened before, / and his soul was walking right in." If the threads involving Sophie's parents are left hanging somewhat, readers will forgive this oversight. Romantic and sexy, with a happy ending that leaves Sophie together with Mr. Right, Sones (Stop Pretending: What Happened when My Big Sister Went Crazy, 1999) has crafted a verse experience that will leave teenage readers sighing with recognition and satisfaction. (Fiction/poetry. YA)
Booklist Review
Gr. 6-10. In a fast, funny, touching book, Sones uses the same simple, first-person poetic narrative she used in Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (1999), but this story isn't about family anguish; it's about the joy and surprise of falling in love. Sophie, 14, thinks she has a crush on handsome Dylan, but she discovers that her most passionate feelings are for someone totally unexpected, a boy who makes her laugh and shows her how to look at the world. And when they kiss, every cell in her body is on fire. Meanwhile, she fights with her mom--who fights with Sophie's dad--and she refuses to wear a pink flowered dress to the school dance, secretly changing into a slinky black outfit with the help of her girlfriends. Their girl talk is hilarious and irreverent in the style of Naylor's Alice books. The poetry is never pretentious or difficult; on the contrary, the very short, sometimes rhythmic lines make each page fly. Sophie's voice is colloquial and intimate, and the discoveries she makes are beyond formula, even while they are as sweetly romantic as popular song. A natural for reluctant readers, this will also attract young people who love to read. --Hazel Rochman