One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

by Sones, Sonya

• ISBN13: 9780689858208
• ISBN10: 0689858205
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-05-01
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

Summary

My name is Ruby.This book is about me.It tells the deeply hideous storyof what happens when my mother diesand I'm dragged three thousand miles awayfrom my gorgeous boyfriend, Ray,to live in L.A. with my father,who I've never even metbecause he's such a scumbag that hedivorced my mom before I was born.The only way I've ever evenseenhimis in the movies,since he's this megafamous actorwho's been way too busytrying to win Oscarsto even visit meoncein fifteen years.Everyone loves my father.Everyone but me.

Author Biography

Before becoming a writer, Sonya Sones was a film editor. Her novels, Stop Pretending and What My Mother Doesn't Know, have received numerous honors, including a Christopher Award, the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize nomination. Both books were chosen ALA Best Books for Young Adults and Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

Ms. Sones says: "I grew up near Boston, but moved to L.A. in my twenties to work for a famous film director. The first time I walked through the gates of MGM, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Hollywood seemed so glamorous and exciting. But it was like living on a different planet. So when I was writing Ruby's story, I could draw on memories of my own culture shock -- seeing palm trees everywhere, movie stars standing in line at the drugstore. I even got a ticket for crossing the street...just like Ruby."