• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #2 November 2001
  /*Starred Review*/ Gr. 6-10. In a fast, funny, touching book, Sones uses the same simple, first-person poetic narrative she used in Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (1999), but this story isn't about family anguish; it's about the joy and surprise of falling in love. Sophie, 14, thinks she has a crush on handsome Dylan, but she discovers that her most passionate feelings are for someone totally unexpected, a boy who makes her laugh and shows her how to look at the world. And when they kiss, every cell in her body is on fire. Meanwhile, she fights with her mom--who fights with Sophie's dad--and she refuses to wear a pink flowered dress to the school dance, secretly changing into a slinky black outfit with the help of her girlfriends. Their girl talk is hilarious and irreverent in the style of Naylor's Alice books. The poetry is never pretentious or difficult; on the contrary, the very short, sometimes rhythmic lines make each page fly. Sophie's voice is colloquial and intimate, and the discoveries she makes are beyond formula, even while they are as sweetly romantic as popular song. A natural for reluctant readers, this will also attract young people who love to read. ((Reviewed November 15, 2001)) Copyright 2001 Booklist Reviews

Before becoming a writer, Sonya Sones taught animation, worked as a photographer, and edited movies. Her first book, Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and won a Christopher Award, the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, and the Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award. It was also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

Ms. Sones says, "In Stop Pretending, which is autobiographical, there are some poems about my first love. I had such a good time writing about those first feelings of overwhelming passion that I knew I wanted to delve into them more deeply. That's why I wrote this book. These poems are definitely not autobiographical. Especially not the embarrassing ones."

Ms. Sones lives with her family in California. She can be reached at SonyaSones@aol.com.