One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Author: Sonya Sones
Pages: 268 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10

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 gorgeous boyfriend, Ray,
to live in L.A. with my father,
who I've never even 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 way to busy
trying to win Oscars
to even visit me once in fifteen years.

Everyone loves my father.
Everyone but me.

I cannot even begin to explain how much I enjoyed this novel. It was written in poetry form, which made it go by quicker than I had hoped it would. I could connect with the characters really easily because their story was so easy to slip into. I felt like I was actually in the novel when I was reading it (which is always a good sign).

This novel was about fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken, who grew up living with her mother in Massachusetts. Ruby's father divorced her mother before she was even born, but Ruby's mother would never tell her the whole story. But the Ruby's mother passed away from an illness and Ruby was sent to California to live with the father that she already disliked because of what she thought he did. She now has to go to a new school, try to fit in, and try to stay connected with her boyfriend, Ray, and her best friend, Lizzy, via email.

I actually learned a little from this novel. It taught me that you can't judge somebody you haven't even met. Ruby hadn't met her father before- she had only seen him in movies. But from the little her mom had told her about him, Ruby decided that he was a "scumbag". In reality, however, he loved her more than anything. It made Ruby realize that you can't judge a book by it's cover. It made me realize that too (although my teachers in school already have drilled it into my head).

I would recommend this novel to somebody in middle school (around grades 6-8) who likes quick, easy, but fun young adult novels that they can somewhat relate to. I would gave this novel a ten out of ten, since I loved it that much. I will definitely read this novel again sometime in the future.