One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

by Sonya Sones

Book Overview

Following her mother's death, Ruby is reluctantly reunited with her estranged movie star father in this stunning free verse novel featuring a new cover and larger trim size. When Ruby's mother dies,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689858205
• ISBN13: 9780689858208
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

This is NOT a Hideous Book Where The Mother Dies

Ruby is a 15 year old girl who must go live with her famous superstar dad whom she has never met after her Mom dies. I'm sure that you do not need me to explain the book because it basically stats everything about it in the top review. This book is NOT poetry. If you are looking for a poetry book this is NOT one. Basically Sonya Sones Preses Enter After every few words and spaces between sentences. Like This. However just this morning I was looking at the reviews deciding if I should spend my time reading it, now I am writing a review, hence this is a short read. However It is a great book. VERY FUNNY SECTIONS! I personally love the entry on pages 20,21 and 22. Great humor and realistic incidents. "Leaves back home if they hit you in the head you might not even notice, here you can end up with Brain Damage." Just great humor and a great plot. Makes you think about would you be happy if you dad was a superstar and you ask your best friend to watch your boyfriend while your gone. Great book, definatley would Recommend. Sonya Sones is a wonderful author and speaks the truth about teenagers nowadays. Love this book; one of my top 15 books.

Insanely funny

I was scrolling down through all the blurbs and all the reviews are talking about the emotion and the tears and blah diddly blah blah. This annoyed me, seeing as how the book WASN'T EMOTIONAL! I loved the character of Ruby, and the way she told her story through poems (a bit disconcerting at first, but excellent) really brought her insanely amusing personality to life. I loved Max, also, because he totally reminded me of one of my best friends (who loved this book too, by the way, after I forced him to read it) and, ok, this is going to sound ridiculous, but it was also sort of... bouncy. No, I don't mean bouncy as in bubbles and happy little smily faces. It was more like a trampoline that when the springs push you up, you rise to grabe a leaf of a nearby tree or something. That was a totally incoherent analogy, but seriously guys, THIS BOOK IS NOT CLOAKED IN A BLACK MOURNING VEIL!!! It contained intelligent humor and I was cracking up the entire time. READ IT. (But not if you enjoy depression)

A Hidiously Touching Book

'One of those hidious books where the mother dies', by Sonya Sones is one of the most amazing and touching book I have ever read. Ms. Sones manages to weave poetry and grace through the lines of fifteen year old Ruby's tragic story. The plot: Meet Ruby. This is what happens when her mother dies, and she is dragged three thousand miles away 'in this gigantic silver bullet with wings.*' She is heading towards her father, Whip Logan, who she has never met, becuase he was too busy winning oscars to come visit her even once. Inside Cover: 'My name is Ruby. This book is about me. It tells the deeply hideous story of what happens when my mother dies and I'm dragged three thousand miles away from my georgeous boyfriend,Ray, to live in L.A, with my father, who I've never met because he's such a scumbag that he divorced my mom before I was born. The only way I've ever seen him is in the movies since he's this mega-famous actor who's been to busy trying to win Oscars to even visit me once in fifteen years. Everyone loves my father. Everyone but me.*' Ruby is very upset about having to live with her father, as you can see, and obviously has some trouble warming up to him. But you can feel that. You can feel her hate rising up in you. You can feel the tears rolling down your cheeks as she tells her story. You can feel the joy rising up in you when she finally warms up to his father. You can feel Ruby. That s why I loved this book so much. TRUE FEELING. This book is rare. Books like this dont come along often, so read it! Pick it up. At least try it. If you do, then I've achived my goal, so good luck and happy reading! *from the book

A touching story told in verse

I loved ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. Both the plot and the poetry were as good as Sonya Sones's previous book, STOP PRETENDING, and it was easy to forget the disappointment of the boring book in between, WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW. The story starts on an airplane, as 15-year-old Ruby flies from the East Coast to Beverly Hills, California, to meet her father for the first time. Her mother has just died, and Ruby isn't too happy to be meeting a man who has acted in tons of movies yet hasn't found the time to even send her a birthday card. She decides to be as horrible to him as possible. As is Sones's trademark, the story is told in verse, and poems focus on the trials and tribulations of being 15 and living with a man you've never met, the serious --- "and I didn't have Mom's hand to hold,/ my heart flung itself into my throat" and the not-so-serious --- "Oh./ My./ God.// I just got a ticket for crossing the street." Unlike some poetry, it's extremely important to read the titles of each of these poems, as they usually serve as the poem's first line. Ruby's father, Whip Logan, is a Tom Cruise-type character who lives next door to Cameron Diaz. She goes to school with the children of celebrities and swears that Brad Pitt was in line behind her at the store. However, Ruby is so sad and angry about having to leave her beloved Aunt Duffy, her best friend Lizzie, and her boyfriend Ray behind that she can't enjoy any of this. She's appalled by the classes her school offers --- "I just had to choose/ between signing up for// Dream Interpretation Through the Ages,/ Introduction to Transcendental Meditation,/ or The Films of Steven Spielberg" and the only fun she has is talking with her father's assistant, Max. ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES is richly filled with great poetry, name-dropping, and e-mails to and from Ruby and her friends. As the year goes on, Ruby and her father learn to understand each other, with a few surprises along the way. This is a great read! --- Reviewed by Hannah Gómez (gingermulatta@kiwibox.com)

The most amazing book!

My mom just bought me this book for my birthday, and even though I had a big history test to study for, I started reading it. I couldn't put it down! It only took me a couple hours to read, and I loved every second of it. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer. It is unbelievable! I don't like tragic books, and despite the title, this book isn't sad at all. It's actually pretty humorous. I've decided that it's one of my favorite books (it's not better than the Grapes of Wrath, but they are too different to make an honest comparison). I don't normally cry when I read books, but I was definitely choked up toward the end of this masterpiece. If you love stories about the rich and famous, or about teenagers, or about California, or stories that are just really interesting and amusing to read, than this book is for you! My friends are all beggining me to borrow it because I can't stop talking about it. Harry Potter: watch out! Ruby is about to knock you out! I can't possibly reccommend a better book. I hope I have gushed enough about it that you can understand how truly great it is! READ IT! You will be forever thankful that I told you to do so.