What My Mother Doesn't Know: Must Read

The novel, What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones, should be considered a “must-read” book because it gives teenage girls important life lessons about dating boys, about appreciating parents, and about challenging stereotypes. 

The main character of the novel, Sophie, writes in simple verse form about the way she understands love and life.  As she recounts what she learns about dating, teenage girls can learn about what it means to look for true love in ways that integrate the whole of who they are.  Likewise, as Sophie tells about her struggles to understand her mother, teenage girls can come to realize how good it feels to appreciate their parents’ genuine concern for them.  And finally, as Sophie grows into the powerful awareness of how to challenge stereotypes about her peers, teens can realize what it takes to grow to maturity in their relationships.   First, because What My Mother Doesn’t Know offers wisdom about dating, it should be considered a “must-read” book for teenage girls.  As Sophie grows in her awareness about how she feels about Robin, a social outcast at school, she finds herself integrating many emotions within herself.  Ultimately she declares, ““Maybe that’s just how it is when your mind and your body and your heart and your soul are in total agreement with each other.  Maybe that’s how it is when it’s real love.” (pg. 235) Sophie realizes what real love is about.  She portrays the integration of her physical attraction to boys and her emotional and spiritual desires using a simple metaphor.  With “mind and body,” “heart and soul” in “total agreement,” she has come to recognize real love in an unlikely person.  This recognition represents real wisdom for a teenage girl like Sophie.  Instead of just basing her dating habits on such superficial factors as good looks or popularity, she has come to realize what “real love” is about.  Because this book portrays real wisdom from the perspective of a teenage girl, What My Mother Doesn’t Know is a “must-read” for all those still struggling with superficiality in dating.  In much the same way, What My Mother Doesn’t Know also gives great advice to teen girls about appreciating their parents; so it should be considered a book with lasting social value.  For a long while in the story, Sophie finds it difficult to talk to her mother about what is going on in her life.  As a result, she cannot appreciate her mother or her mother’s care for her.  Finally, however, she exclaims, “And she looks at me with such sad eyes that I suddenly find myself telling her the whole story.  She doesn’t really say much, but it helps to know she’s listening.” (pg. 255)  When Sophie’s mother sits on the edge of her bed and looks at her with, “such sad eyes,” Sophie begins to want to tell her all about her growing love relationship with Robin. Earlier in the story, Sophie did not believe that her mother wanted to be a part of her life.  Now she realizes her mother’s deep care, so she says simply that “it helps to know she’s listening.”  With very few words, Sophie’s mother enters compassionately into her world, and Sophie learns to appreciate her mother in a new way despite what she believes her mother doesn’t know.  The author of this amazingly simple book thus offers great advice to teens, who often find it hard to believe their parents care about them or their love relationships.  The book indeed has great social value for this reason alone.  Finally, this book might also be considered a valuable work of literature because it suggests the importance of teen girls growing to maturity by being able to challenge the stereotypes that teens often have about their peers.  Toward the end of this story, Sophie comes face to face with the crushing realization of how her friends have stereotyped Robin as a loser.  From across the cafeteria, Sophie sees Robin but is afraid to have her peers know that she has come to love such a loser.  She describes her interior struggle saying, “I want to scream.  I want to run away.  I want to – No! I don’t.  I race over to Robin, sit down across from him and take hold of his hands.  Robin’s smiling with more than his eyes now.  He’s smiling through and through.  And I am, too.  Because everything’s going to be all right.” (pg. 259)  By portraying Sophie as engaging in an interior battle where at first she wants to run away and then she exclaims, “No I don’t,” Sonya Sones shows the great tension teens face when trying to accept someone for who they truly are.  Then, when the author uses the metaphor of having both Sophie and Robin “smiling” with more than their eyes, the author communicates how good and right the world looks when one doesn’t judge others based on simplistic stereotypes.  In Sophie’s realization that she really does love Robin, and in her courage to show her love publicly, we witness a teen growing to maturity.  Her ability to challenge the stereotypes her friends have concerning Robin represents a kind of rite of passage for teenage girls.  In portraying this rite so simply and beautifully, What My Mother Doesn’t Know truly deserves to be considered among the ranks of valuable works of literature that deserve to be read.  Overall then, What My Mother Doesn’t Know truly should be considered a “must-read” book.  Sonya Sones’ wonderful book contains timeless wisdom and sound advice, and it portrays the growth to maturity of a teenage girl who learns so much truth about love and life.