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    So B. It
    So B. It
    So B. It
    Audiobook4 hours

    So B. It

    Written by Sarah Weeks

    Narrated by Cherry Jones

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Now a major motion picture starring Alfre Woodard, Jessica Collins, John Heard, Jacinda Barrett, Cloris Leachman, and Talitha Bateman—in theaters October 2017!

    From acclaimed author Sarah Weeks comes a touching coming-of-age story about a young girl who goes on a cross-country journey to discover the truth about her parents, which the New York Times called ""a remarkable novel."" Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me and Ali Benjamin's The Thing About Jellyfish.

    She doesn't know when her birthday is or who her father is. In fact, everything about Heidi and her mentally disabled mother's past is a mystery. When a strange word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi sets out on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.

    Far away from home, pieces of her puzzling history come together. But it isn't until she learns to accept not knowing that Heidi truly arrives.

    Editor's Note

    Hooked me immediately…

    Written from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl searching for truth, “So B. It” hooked me with the first sentence. The story hinges on some fantastical elements, but suspension of disbelief is all part of its magic.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 18, 2005
    ISBN9780060834920
    Author

    Sarah Weeks

    Sarah Weeks has written more than fifty books for young readers. Some of her picture books include Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash, Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth!, and Glamourpuss. Her bestselling novel, So B. It, is a feature-length film starring Alfre Woodard and Talitha Bateman. Ms. Weeks visits thousands of students in elementary and middle schools across the country every year. She is also an adjunct professor in the prestigious MFA Writing for Children and Young Adults program at the New School. Sarah lives in Nyack, New York, with her husband, Jim Fyfe, and their dog, Mia. You can visit her online at sarahweeks.com.

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    Reviews for So B. It

    4/5

    600 ratings51 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Oh my, if this story doesn't bring you to tears over the beautiful love between its characters, I don't know what will. Heidi obsession to uncover her mentally disabled mother's past and what her mom's special word meant, drove her to travel by bus from Reno, Nevada to Liberty, New York. It was at Hilltop Home that she found answers to her questions. Beautifully written from inside Heidi's heart and mind.
    • 5/5
      Since Heidi, the main character in So B. It, loved to make lists, I thought I would start my review that way.

      Things I Love About This Book
      Beautiful language
      Compassionate, realistic characters
      Compelling story
      Unique style
      Heart-warming and touching without being sentimental

      A young teen, Heidi, lives with her mentally disabled mother, who only knows a select amount of words, and who thinks her own name is "So Be It." Their caring neighbor, Bernie, took them under her wing when Heidi was just a week old. Bernie provides for them the best she can, however, what she can provide is limited, because she is agoraphobic.

      The opening lines had me hooked: "If truth was a crayon and it was up to me to put a wrapper around it and name its color, I know just what I would call it - dinosaur skin. … But that was a long time ago, before I knew what I know now about both dinosaur skin and the truth."

      Heidi learns from Bernie, who home-schools her, that you can't tell the color of an animal by its bones, so we'll never know what color dinosaurs actually were. But when Mama adds a new word to her limited vocabulary, Heidi is determined to find the truth behind it.

      Every sentence was so beautiful, so powerful, yet so stripped down - no extra words, no flowery language weighing it down. One of my favorites (and I really have to limit it to one, before I quote the whole book) was how a hug was described as "…arms around us both like string around a package."

      While bits and pieces reminded me of certain things: "I Am Sam" because of the 'normal' child and mentally handicapped parent; The Man Who Loved Clowns because of the handicapped relative; I am the Cheese because of the "Farmer in the Dell" song and a spoiler-ish aspect I won't reveal here; these reminders were vague, because the book was entirely unique.
    • 4/5
      This is a beautiful coming of age story about one girl's quest to find the truth about her mother and her own past. You will fall in love with the character Heidi, her mother and her neighbor, Bernadette, and the many people Heidi meets on her quest for the truth including, Zander, Georgia, Ruby, and more. Sarah Weeks did a magnificent job writing this story about knowing, not knowing, and what really matters, love.
    • 5/5
      This is a Scholastics book so it carries a positive message and is easily read. A great book to give a teen who 'does not like to read'.
    • 5/5
      This book is the absolute best book of all time. It’s about a 12 year old girl named Heidi It who goes to NY find the word SOOF. Heidi’s mom has always been mentally challenged so Heidi wants to know why her mother says this word and nobody else she knows does. She goes from Nevada to New York to find out what her mom’s special word means and where it came from. This book is great and has some tragedies which make it a great book for 9 year olds and up.
    • 5/5
      I couldn't stop listening. Captivated the whole time. Beautifully written. Touching, heartwarming book.
    • 4/5
      Fast read, satisfying writing, and a sweet/vulnerable Platte makes for a wonderful way to spend the time!
    • 5/5
      J
    • 5/5
      Kid's book that we listened to in the car. Sweet story about a 12 year old girl named Heidi and her very unconventional family: Her mama who has a "bum brain" and a total of 18 words in her vocabulary and Bernie (Bernadette) her agoraphobic next door neighbor. Told from Heidi's point of view, the story is a touching coming of age tale and a search for identity. Prior to age 12, Heidi doesn't think much about her unusual set-up and she naturally does things that are a bit beyond most kids her age: grocery shop, laundrymat, etc. She is home-schooled by Bernie with lots of help from the library, but her world is so insular, she doesn't think twice about it. However, when Heidi finds a roll of undeveloped film in a camera stuffed at the back of a drawer and then views the pictures of her mother and a location she has no knowledge of, coupled with the mysterious word "souf" that is one of her Mother's few known words, Heidi goes on a physical journey across the country and a figurative one of self-discovery. The author handles very complex controversial issues with kid gloves so the result is a heartwarming story of love and realization.
    • 4/5
      Aspects of this are more than a fairy-tale than reality, especially the whole godmother and quest things, and I did fall under an enchantment while reading it. Thinking back (to this morning when I read it), I don't remember anything brilliantly complex or poetic, but I do remember sniffing, giggling, and feeling both anxiety and joy... somehow Weeks made it work, and so I do feel confident in recommending this to young teens and all who are willing to read books aimed at them.
    • 3/5
      I really like reading these young adult books. They usually have a lesson for life in them of which I need to be reminded. This one was very touching, realistic and well-written. An easy read and one I will think about for several days now that I am finished.
    • 4/5
      A compelling story of girl trying to piece together her past and understand the word he mother keeps repeating Soof. Hieid the main character is born to a mother with a "bum brain", some sort of mental retardation. The mother become unable to care for one week child alone and enlists the help of a kind neighbor. Together this group finds a way to make like work together. One day Heidi decides to find out who she is and where she came from. She ventures off to meet and grandmother and finds out her mom and dad were both severely disabled . She shows a tremendous amount of courage and resolve in finding the information. Upon returning home she finds out her mother has passed away. She is almost drowned in guilt but with the help of her "Special " neighbor manages to cope. It is a fast and engaging read. Best used with middle of high school aged students.
    • 1/5
      This book isn't a typical story line. It's about a girl named Heidi chasing down one word that her mentally disabled mother says. The word is soof. Heidi is on an adventure in New York which will ultimately end in tragedy.The book hooks you strait from the first sentence and will leaving you crying in the end. It was unique, tragic, and amazingly interesting.Sarah weeks puts you in the mind of a girl who at the beginning isn't polluted by the outside world and takes you trough the journey which will expose her.
    • 3/5
      Heidi, a 12 yr. old girl, grows up with her handicapped mother and a kind neighbor who lives in an adjoining apt. and acts as her surrogate mother. Heidi does not know anything about her mother and her mother is unable to communicate very well. After finding a camera and developing the film, she discovers clues to her mother's past. This sends her on a personal journey of discovery. Heidi is a strong, likable character . The story's ending surprised me. The book seems targeted for mature fifth graders and up (questions of how Heidi was conceived may arise).
    • 5/5
      One day in her apartment in Reno, Bernadette heard a pitiful sound in the hallway. She opened the door a crack and saw a young woman standing there in her raincoat, her bare legs spattered with dried mud, holding a crying baby wrapped in a blanket. The baby was Heidi, and they had come from the almost-empty apartment next door for help. Heidi's Mama can't tend her week-old child because she has, as Heidi later says, "a bum brain," so Bernadette steps in and cares for them both tenderly. Mama says her name is "So Be It," but with her twenty-three-word vocabulary, this is all the information she can give Bernadette.Twelve years later this strange but loving household is still together. Heidi does the shopping because Bernadette has "angora phobia," and pays for it with money she wins at the laundromat; Bernadette teaches her at the kitchen table while Mama is happily occupied with her coloring books, and the rent and utilities are always mysteriously paid. But Heidi wonders who she is, where she and Mama came from, why they were alone, and most of all, she wants to know the meaning of Mama's word "soof." When she finds some old photos in a cupboard, she knows where to go to find out, and as she sets out on a long cross-country bus journey, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into surprising places in this intriguing and heartwarming mystery. (Ages 10 to 14)
    • 5/5
      This book was pretty unlike what I've read before. It was about a girl who grew up with a severely mentally-challenged mother and her helpful neighbor, and how the pictures she found on her mother's camera encouraged her to discover the secrets of her past. I've read tons and tons of realistic fiction before, but none with this kind of story. It was very original and relatable, even though the mother I've known all my life is not mentally handicapped. You don't have to have a handicapped mother to have a harder situation growing up, and Heidi's bravery and strength was really an inspiration to kids who read this book. Maybe it's fairly unlikely that a twelve-year-old would travel across the country by herself on a bus, but what her character stands for is really what this book is all about.
    • 5/5
      Sarah Weeks weaves a powerful story of self-discovery--not so much coming of age, as coming to one's own identity. It is also an excellent sample of how we, as a society, judge what we do not know, from fear more than hate.
    • 5/5
      So B. It... This story honestly was unexpectedly amazing. The fact of a little girl just wanting to know who and where she came from touched my heart. At first when my teacher gave this book to me, I immediately thought of it as a book for a female to read. I never thought that I could visualize this book as well as I did. The way that Sarah Weeks wrote this is a way that can inspire. This book showed me that anything is possible as long as you figure out how to cope with the facts that may come out of your search. This book is a book that personally I would recommend to anyone. I've connected with this book, from my own abandonment. I knew where I came from but after reading more I pursued research into my family just as Heidi did in this book. My final words for this book are... This book was amazingly crafted and I enjoyed it more than I ever thought I would. This concludes my review...
    • 5/5
      Heidi is a twelve year old girl living with her mentally disabled mother and neighbor,Burnadette, that takes care of her but is very scared of leaving her home known as agrophobia and has had it ever since she was young. Heidi always wanted to know if she had a father and how her mother has gotten in this postition she is in now. Her mother, (she calls herself So B.It), says a mysterious word one day called "Soof" and heidi is eager to know what the word means. So she sets out on a journey to Thurman Hilltops home to find out the truth about her mothers past and the mysterious word she has been saying. Along with those questions she starts asking herself who is her grandmother. Heidi finally arrives to Thurman Hill's and finds out her grandmother,Diane, has been payed by Thurman to take both Heidi and her mother away to protect the reputation of his home. Heidi is appalled of the fact that her mothers name isn't really So B. It but Sophia Demuth and Thurman's son,(who is also disabled) fell in love with Heidi's mom and she got pregnant with Heidi. When Heidi comes back home from Thurman Hilltops Home she finds out her mother has died and is devastated and believes it is all her fault. Burnadette takes care of Heidi now that she has become an orphan. The main point of this novel is the love and affection Heidi, her neighbor and her mother shared and i think its a great book to read!
    • 5/5
      Sarah Weeks weaves a powerful story of self-discovery--not so much coming of age, as coming to one's own identity. It is also an excellent sample of how we, as a society, judge what we do not know, from fear more than hate.
    • 4/5
      A quick read and fast-paced; very interesting to hear about Heidi and her background being raised by a mother with a "bum brain" (I've never heard that phrase before). Heidi's love for her mother is extremely apparent; I did, however, want to know more information about what happened to her mother at the end, so that part did bother me.
    • 5/5
      Touching mystery written in a way that makes it feel timeless even though it takes place in the recent past. The author's ability to manipulate language is beautiful, ex. "When Bernadette explained things, they shot into my brain like arrows and stuck". While it is an easy read, the underlying symbolism and metaphors made for great class discussions when I taught this book. The students loved the mystery/adventure vibe.
    • 5/5
      A memorable story and completely captivating characters. This affected me to surprising degree. I have to hurry away this morning but I'll have more to say about this later.
    • 4/5
      Excellent piece of children's literature. Heidi is a strong character for young girls to look up to. She's courageous, extremely smart, and tough. I can't imagine how rough it must have been for her to grow up with a mentally handicapped mother and never know anything about her family or herself. This is not usually the type of story I prefer reading, but Weeks was able to keep my interest by telling the story from Heidi's point of view. I wouldn't have had nearly as much sympathy for Heidi or the other characters in the story if it hadn't been told from the perspective of a 12 year old girl with a mother with a "bum brain."
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed being taken along for the ride with Heidi. As the story is told from her perspective, in her 12 year old voice, it was easy to get sucked into her tale of finding the truth about where she came from and how she ended up with Bernadette and her mom. Heidi overcame the aching moments and losses and in the end matured and became accepting of what she could and could not know.
    • 4/5
      This book kept me intrigued until the end. I was very wrapped up in Heidi's character. Her quest to discover her mother's past became my quest.
    • 5/5
      this book was amazing ! i could read it 100 times and never get sick of it . it was also a life changing kid of book personally . the whole story and motto of this book was very inspiring , about how the mother was disabled and how a young girl was grown up for her age . The little girl travels by herself to find out her mothers true identity and goes on long journey to find out . i would definitely recommend this book to anyone and all levels of reading . one of the best books i have ever read .
    • 3/5
      So B. It by Sarah Weeks is a good YA novel. Not at the level of some of the great ones we've seen lately like The Fault in Our Stars or Wonder, but solid and good. Twelve-year-old Heidi is the able-minded daughter of mentally deficient So B. It, a sweet woman who only knows a few words and gets easily flustered. They came upon agoraphobic neighbor Bernadette when Heidi was a baby (under circumstances explained late in the book), and Dette has raised Heidi, homeschooled her, and taken care of her mother. Heidi and her mother do the shopping under instructions from Bernadette, and Heidi becomes capable in the outside world.Heidi is now insatiably curious about her mother's past and whatever family Heidi may have elsewhere. Clues lead her on a cross-country bus journey from Reno, Nevada, to Liberty, New York. She is helped by her uncanny knack for lucky gambling (slot machines, guess the number of jelly beans, etc.), which she uses sparingly. Accepting that knack takes some generosity on the reader's part, but Heidi's search for her family and its history is compelling, and the characters she meets up with are well-rounded and engaging. If you're willing to take the story in the spirit it's given, it's a likable one from a prolific author that will pull on your heartstrings.
    • 5/5
      If you've ever read a book that haunted you long after the last page ended, then you understand the difficulty in writing a review that expresses the sheer beauty of an incredible tale.Attempting will be feeble, but here goes:There is security for 12 year old Heidi. Bernadette, a loving neighbor, provides help and guidance in taking care of her severely mentally challenged mother. Limited in the ability to express words and thoughts, Heidi's mother repeats one word over and over.Suffering from agoraphobia, Bernadette cannot leave the apartment and thus Heidi's world is a small, safe cocoon of love. Whereas Heidi's mother has few words in her grasp, Bernadette is a voracious reader and avidly searches words and their meaning.Found by Bernadette when Heidi was an infant, she is well cared for and home schooled by Bernadette. Unlike her mother, Heidi is highly intelligent and thirsts for knowledge. That thirst includes the need to drink from the well of understanding about how her mother arrived in Reno, Nevada at the doorstep of Bernadette.Knowing they didn't simply drop from the sky, when Heidi finds a box of photos in the back of a closet, one of which indicates a sign of an institution in New York, she stubbornly pursues a journey to find the answer to puzzle pieces that seem disjointed.Bravely taking a bus from Reno to New York City, meeting a cast of characters along the way, Heidi's journey nets unexpected results.This is a lyrical, poignant, touching and heart warming book! The writing is wonderful and the emotions expressed and accurately portrayed brought tears and a longing to finish the book, while paradoxically not wanting it to end.This is what great writing should be. Going out on a limb, I'll wager that you won't be disappointed in reading this ASAP.
    • 4/5
      This book really spoke to me . I understood everything easily considering the main character is my age. The description was beautiful and I could never put the book down. The surprise at the ending really shocked, but not as much as it did the main character.