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Weeks, Sarah. 2004. SO B IT. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0066236223.
Weeks has created empathetic characters in Bernadette and Heidi. Heidi's narration is simply wonderful. Her voice is powerful
and memorable. She seems honest and genuine in her narration--she is a character that lets you into her mind. She genuinely
loves her mother "So B. It" despite her mental illness. Heidi's life isn't normal by any means--but Heidi doesn't
complain--she's happy creating her own kind of unique family that embraces everyone's differences. The novel was memorable,
enjoyable, and heartbreaking in some places. Heidi's loss is real, but the character is so strong--the reader knows she'll
be able to survive. I absolutely loved this novel. Heidi is a girl who is gaining in wisdom. She knows that every person has
their own weakness or flaw--and she accepts people as they are. She doesn't ask for what they can't give. While other girls
might be embarrassed of a mother who is "mentally bum" since she only has a vocabulary of 24 words, one word "soof"
not even being a "real" word, but Heidi, although she goes through times of frustrations, loves her mother unconditionally.
It was just a sweet, moving, loving novel. Very well written. Definitely a must read for years to come. I hope it never goes
out of print.
"I'd be lying if I said that given a choice, I wouldn't rather know than not know. But there are some things you
can just know for no good reason other than that you do, and then there are other things that no matter how badly you want
to know them, you just can't. The truth is, whether you know something or not doesn't change what was" (4).
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