Fantastic Premise, Predictable Characters

books:


	• So B. It Sarah Weeks HarperTrophy, 2005 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 103 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

SO B IT!

This is a really good book. Heidi lives with her mentally dsabled mother, and her "next door neighbor". She wants to know more about her past, like was she named heidi after the movie? Who is her dad? ETC. And what does the word SOOF ( a word her mom says) So she sets out to go to new york. It was a very good book. I think sometimes she made bad choices (she gamble underage) and i think that she also put to much trust in starngers. I think that kids 10-15 will like this book. I finshed it in less then a day. Also this book is very sad. AND I think that the author could even write a second novel about heidi. About when she goes to school.

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A book everyone should read

Do you like touching, heartwarming, realistic fiction stories? Are you looking for a good book? If so, So B. It may be the book for you. Twelve year old Heidi It lives with her mentally disabled mother, and her agoraphobic neighbor, Bernadette. Heidi's mother came to Bernadette's doorstep 12 years ago. They don't know where she came from, and So B. It (Heidi's mother) can't tell them using the twenty-three words that she knows. Some of these words are simple ones like tea and back soon, but there is one word that puzzles Heidi the most, soof. Soon, Heidi embarks on a journey that takes her across the country to find out where she came from, who she is, and what soof means, once and for all. This book was so good that I couldn't put it down until I finished. I laughed at some parts, I cried at others, and I couldn't believe how well Sarah Weeks described Heidi's feelings. I could almost feel the sadness, confusion, and happiness coming from these pages. So B. It was one great book that everyone should have the chance to enjoy.

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Fantastic Premise, Predictable Characters

It may be a symptom of my own growing cynicism, but I was expecting something different--an intriguing tale of a young girl who sets out to find out where she came from, how she wound up living next door to a woman with agoraphobia with a mother who has a vocabulary of just 23 words.

For about the first half of the book, it delivered. Sure, the secondary characters had absolutely no purpose except to move the plot forward (a pet peeve of mine in children's literature--when authors build a world around a main character where no one has any purpose except to serve the story). But, Heidi is a clearly drawn character who learns a lot about herself as she travels by bus across the country. She's an insightful, intelligent child, who seems like she'd make an amiable traveling companion.

But, what's just a plot contrivance in the first half (characters who spring up out of nowhere to teach Heidi lessons and help her find her way) becomes ridiculous when she reaches her destination. There, people fall all over themselves to help her, going so far as to want to keep her forever and ever. (When's the last time you met someone else's kid and decided to offer her your home? I'm pretty sure that's just plain creepy in real life, and in this book it's not a lot better.)

I know, it's fiction, and it's not necessarily supposed to mirror real life, but I think in the case of this particular book that this abandonment of reality really harms its message. In the beginning, it's all about Heidi setting out to learn the truth, and in the end, she's learned that there are things you can know and things you can't. And that's a lovely message. But it's diminished by the fantasy elements (of a cop and his wife who want to keep Heidi in their lovely, sweet cottage with a hammock in the backyard, for instance) that seem to serve no real purpose other than to make the reader go "Awww, isn't that nice?"

What's more, after about the first half of the book, nothing that happens after comes as any surprise. If the book had of stayed relatively realistic throughout, it might not be so frustrating, but between the fantasy of a perfect childhood dangled before Heidi, and the silly, trite way the mysteries are wrapped up... I really wished I had of stopped halfway through.

The book has value in its three original characters, and in Heidi's overall lesson about truth. My recommendation is to read the last half quickly so you don't waste too much time with it and don't spend too much time trying to make sense of anything after Heidi gets off the bus.

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The awsome book

The book I read was so B. It by Sarah Weeks. This book is realistic fiction. This book could have happened.

This book is about a girl named Heidi and her mom that is living with a neighbor named Bernie. Heidi's mom is mentally disabled. Heidi is determined to find out about her past and her mama's word "soof."

I would recomend this book for those who like sad and adventerous books.
This is my favorite bokk.

A touching, simple book

"So B. It" sounds rather like a simple book from the title, and, in fact, it is. The writing style is straight-forward (though thoroughly readable and enjoyable), the plot not the most surprising (though not predictable either), and the matter in which it is presented is not so complex that most older readers (whether young adult or fully grown) will be able to fully appreciate this.

On the other hand, it is a touching, powerful book for slightly younger readers willing to have a story that is both interesting and eye opening. "So B. It" deals with serious issues such as mental illness, family, agoraphobia, and even something as simple and normal as growing up. Heidi is twelve when she decides to figure out from where she came and her journey is one that brings both satisfaction of knowledge and pain of knowledge.

This book is bound to bring tears to the eyes of any reader. While more "mature" readers won't find the simplicity of this book too interesting, younger readers capable of understanding the serious issues confronted in "So B. It" will be more than satisfied by the read. It is an easy to book to read and understand, but is also emotional, touching, and simply well done.

A good choice.

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