One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

1. One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother DiesbySonya Sones Created By Kelsey Steele

2. “I’d say I’m doing reasonably well, considering I’m being dragged three thousand miles away from all my friends and my school and my aunt Duffy and the house I’ve lived in ever since I was born, three thousand miles away from my mother, and my mother’s grave, where she lies in a cold wooden box under six feet of dirt, just beginning to rot.”page 1 Ruby is being flown to California to live with her father due to her mother’s death. This conflict reveals that she isn’t happy at all, she’s leaving all she’s ever known and moving to this place where she’s met no one including her father. Ruby’s attitude changes completely she doesn’t want to live with her father because she feels he doesn’t care, he was never a part of her life as a child.

3. “It seems like half the girls are wearing lingerie instead of dresses. And the rest of them are wearing jeans with such major holes in them that you can see their thongs. (Only the skanky girls dressed like that at my old school But here they all do.) And most of the boys look like they’re trying to do Brad Pitt impressions. These kids have perfect hair. Perfect teeth. Perfect bodies. Perfect Skin… I can feel a huge zit blooming on the tip of my nose. It’s flashing on and off like a neon sign.”page 71 Ruby feels out of place at this new school. This is when she starts to feel that going to this school may be more difficult then she thought. She tries to make sure no one realizes Whip is her father.

4. “Maybe it’s not. Because the most awful thing has happened: ever since Feather said that we had to record our dreams, I haven’t been able to remember a single one. Every morning we sit in a circle, and all the other kids open up their journals and read their dreams aloud so that Feather can help them to interpret them. When it’s my turn, I just blush and mumble, ‘Sorry. I still couldn’t remember any.’ . . . . But it’s almost two weeks now, and that smile of hers is starting to look a little tight around the edges. Page 115 Ruby hasn’t been able to think of her dreams, which at first her teacher didn’t mind but now she’s starting to get a little irritated. This makes the character think a lot harder but she can never win. It also shows that Feather is a patient teacher . This is when Ruby begins to try really hard to remember every dream she has.

5. “I grab it and answer, ‘Ray…?’ There’s a short silence on the other end of the line. Then I hear Lizzie’s uncertain voice, ‘Ruby…?’ . . . That’s when I notice that her nose sounds stuffed. ‘Is everything all right, Liz?’ Silence. ‘Lizzie?’ Have you been crying?’ Still no answer. ‘Lizabeth…?’ ‘Well, yeah,’ she finally sniffs, ‘I have.’ Then she says in this real wavery voice, ‘Ray was supposed to be the one to tell you, but-’ Ray?! My heart hurls itself against my ribs. ‘Oh no…’ I say. ‘It’s Amber, isn’t it?’ Another silence. Then, ‘No, it’s not Amber,’ she says with a heavy sigh. ‘It’s… it’s…’ But she can’t seem to get herself to say whatever it is out loud. ‘Come on, Lizzie,’ I plead. ‘ Just tell me.’ ‘Oh, Ruby’ she finally moans. ‘I didn’t mean for it to happen..’ And suddenly all the blood in my body freezes. I know what she’s trying to tell me. ‘It’s you, isn’t it?’ I whisper. ‘Yeah. Me.’ she says, bursting into sobs. ‘I’m so sorry, Ruby. So, so sorry..’” Ruby finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her best friend. It shows that Lizzie wasn’t as true as she thought she was. Also, that her best friend feels awful, but Ruby is no longer friends with her because of what she’d done.

6. “Whip tells the chauffer to turn left on California and take the Pacific Coast Highway to sunset. . . Across an expanse of strangely duneless sand, I catch my first glimpse of the Pacific. . . It doesn’t smell right. In fact it doesn’t smell at all. That’s what’s wrong. I fill my lungs with what should be sea air. But I might as well be in Nebraska. I can’t pick up even the vaguest whiff of seaweed or salt.” This is where Ruby finally gets to spend some one on one time with her father whom she’s never met. During this she realizes they actually have something in common. It proves that Ruby actually has emotion because she begins to sob. Also that she and her father love the ocean.

7. “It’s a very long driveway. Curving through a forest of anorexic palm trees, waving their scrawny necks around miles above an unnaturally green lawn. The house finally rolls into view. It looks like Walt Disney designed it. Turrets. Balconies. Gables. Flags. There’s even something that looks sort of like a drawbridge.” This is when they’re pulling into Whips driveway. Obviously Whip is rather wealthy if his house looks like it was designed by Walt Disney. This proves that Ruby’s disliking of her father is being taken out on his house.

8. “Suddenly there’s another tremor. Only this one’s coming underneath us. The ground’s shaking! Just like it’s a- Whoa! It’s an earthquake! The sidewalk feels like a bronco trying to buck us off it’s back. We grab onto the Tree of Death to steady ourselves. A palm frond crashes to the ground, and Whip rushes to wrap around me from behind, as if he’s trying to be a human shield.” There’s an earthquake going on and her father is protecting her. This shows that Whip really does love his daughter and truly cares about her. Also this is when Ruby realized that her father is the man from her dreams that protects her. Lastly, Ruby realizes her dad isn’t a bad guy after all.