Sonya Sones is a verse novelist who I discovered while looking at books by Ellen Hopkins on Goodreads after reading and loving the Crank trilogy. I immediately knew that I wanted to read some of her books after reading the descriptions and I couldn’t think of a better time to start than now. I’ve been interested in reading verse novels lately so that I can study them and see what different authors do. So far I have read verse novels by three different verse novelists: Lisa Schroeder, Ellen Hopkins and Sonya Sones. It’s been interesting to compare them and see what similarities and differences can be found in their writing.
What My Mother Doesn’t Know is about fifteen-year-old Sophie and the three boys that she falls in love with. I thought that the verse format was incredibly effective in this novel. I’ve found that verse brings the characters thoughts and observations to life in a way that is more intimate than prose and is almost essential for some stories. I think this novel needed that connection, because there were times when I wanted to ask Sophie what she was doing and why. It would be easy to become frustrated with her–and based on some reviews that I saw, some people really did–but I grew to love Sophie and wanted her to find what she was looking for. This book actually had me turning pages at the end to see what would happen and I held my breath until I read the final page. I loved seeing how Sophie changed and grew throughout the novel and as soon as I finished I was ready to read the companion.
If you’re looking for a new verse novel to read or are interested in reading one for the first time, I think this book would be a great way to start.
Have you read any books by Sonya Sones or a different verse novelist? If you have recommendations, I’d love to see them!
