The Genius in My Midst… I Missed!

I just read a book that blew me away, and I really want to tell you about it.  But first a little history lesson, because the way I discovered this book is a lesson in keeping your eyes open, so you don’t miss something incredible right in front of your face.

Okay, the lesson’s for me since I did not follow that advice.  Case in point:

As I’ve mentioned here on the blog, my first job in the entertainment industry was answering the phones for Saved by the Bell: The College Years.  When that show ended, I worked as a writer’s assistant for a live show (and met Lily Tomlin — don’t get me started on the level of geekoutery involved on my part), then came back to Bell-land for a stint as a writer’s assistant on Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

The head writer on New Class was a man named Bennett Tramer, who had been at Bayside High since before Saved by the Bell had a colon in its title.  He ran the room of writers, who pitched and parried ideas while we assistants kept our fingers flying on the keyboard to make sure we captured every word.

Bennett was great to me — my very first produced TV script was an episode of New Class, and as head writer he helmed the whole process.  As assistants, we spent a lot of time with him, and among the things I remember most was how much he talked about his wife, Sonya.  He raved about her — they’d been married forever, but clearly, the man was still smitten.  He practically glowed when she and their kids came to visit the set.

I remember hearing things about Sonya’s creative accomplishments… there was something about art… something about writing… but I was just out of college and all about television, so the random creative exploits of the boss’ wife really went in one ear and out the other.

Cut to an absurd number of years later.  Elixir had come out recently, Populazzi‘s release was still months away, and I was heading to my first event with the LAYAS, the Los Angeles Young Adult Authors.  It was a Christmas party, and I was freaking out because I didn’t know anyone, and I was convinced I’d end up getting shy and neurotic and having meaningful conversation with a potted plant all night, but I forced myself to walk into the house…

…and there was Bennett Tramer!

How could that be?

Uh-huh.  Remember Sonya?  Turns out she’s Sonya Sones, award-winning poet/author of several young adult novels-in-verse.  I had no idea!

I loved catching up with Bennett and properly getting to know Sonya after so many years, and told myself I’d read her books immediately.

I didn’t.  The TBR pile got in the way.  Even last June, when I saw her at ALA and got a signed copy of her first “grownup” book, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, I didn’t read it right away.  It languished on my bookshelf, and I sadly forgot about it… until two days ago.  I picked it up, started it…

…and couldn’t stop.

The book is brilliant.  Incredibly honest and real.  It’s the journey of Holly the year she turns 50 and everything seems to cave in on her.  She hits menopause, her only child heads off to college, and her mother takes dangerously ill.

Sounds like a party, right?  But Sonya delivers Holly’s roller coaster ride in poetry that’s hysterically insightful.

Oh yes, poetry.  The whole novel is in verse, which is the main reason it stayed on my shelf unread for so long.

With the exception of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, I’ve never been much for poetry.  Then I read Stasia Kehoe’s Audition, which is also in verse… but it doesn’t read like the cliche of “poetry.”  It’s not inscrutable.  It is in fact remarkably scrutable.  Reading it, I realized that when done well, verse is the perfect window into a character’s head.  Who thinks in perfectly linear prose?  The string of uniquely crafted images in poetry is a far more accurate portrayal of how we perceive the world.

Sonya Sones doesn’t just do poetry well, she’s a poetry expert.  I couldn’t put it down.  I sat on the couch with Miss M for hours, Miss M reading her book, me reading Sonya’s.  Miss M kept looking up at me and saying, “Mommy, you’re crying again.”

Of course I was; Sonya’s beautiful, hysterical, honest poetry had me flashing forward ten years to Miss M leaving home for college, and the combination of agony and elation I know I’ll feel.

This book is a must-read.  I absolutely loved it, and recommend it without reservations.

So the moral of the story?  If your boss goes on and on about his super-talented wife?  Don’t tune him out!  She’s probably someone you’d really love to know.