Editorial Review
You couldn't really tell about Mama's brain just from looking at her, but it was obvious as soon as she spoke. She had a high voice, like a little girl's, and she only knew twenty-three words. I know this for a fact, because we kept a list of the things Mama said tacked to the inside of the kitchen cabinet. Most of the words were common ones, like good and more and hot, but there was one word only my mother said, soof.
Although she lives an unconventional lifestyle with her mentally disabled mother and their doting neighbor, Bernadette, Heidi has a lucky streak that has a way of pointing her in the right direction. When a mysterious word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi's thirst for the truth leads her on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.
A dramatic tour de force by the best-selling author of Regular Guy.
Cached date: AWS Called=true
Customer Reviews
So B. It 
2008-07-30
So B. It is such a creative story. Telling the story of a girl and her dysfunctional mother, this is the kind of story that makes even the strongest eyes weep like you've just stuck them in a vat of the strongest onion juice.
Okay, that was lame. But, 'So B. It' is an amazing novel, especially to read to classrooms of YA readers. Even some guys I know have read the book and liked it!
'So B. It' is an exceptional book and I would recommend it to anyone. It's a short, quick read, and is definitely worth your time.
Beautiful 2008-07-25
My twelve-year-old daughter loved this book and nagged me for months to read it. I wasn't expecting it to be so compelling and rewarding. Sarah Weeks has a great ear and heart, and her characters are eccentric and vividly drawn. I highly recommend this book for teens and their parents.
Such a Great Book 2008-06-23
I enjoyed this book very much! It's a little different. I agree with Amazon on the age range, sort of. I'm not sure about nine year olds but maybe 5th through 7th grade?
Brigett's Review 2008-04-16
I like this book because it is like a mystery because she wants to know her mom but she is living with a girl that they lived next door to. Will she saw pitchers of her mom and was disarmed to find out were she was at. She found out were she was and wanted to see her so she razed money she got a bus ticket and went to were her mom was and could not finder for a long time and then one day she figured out how it was. And then her mom died.
So I thank you should read this book If you like mysteries. It is the best book in the world!!!
A amazing book 2008-03-28
So be it is a amazing fiction book that i know you should read. The best thing about this book is it controls your feelings. For example Heidi has a disabled mother. Heidi loves to play slot machines. Therefore, since this story takes place in Nevada Heidi tried a slot machine.
But then Heidi won money from the slot machine. She also wanted to find the meaning of soof and she did by communicating with Bernadette on the phone. She was also trying to find out about her past and she used to ride the bus to where her mother used to go.
Heartwarming, I think so. 2008-02-22
You couldn't really tell about Mama's brain just from looking at her, but it was obvious as soon as she spoke. She had a high voice, like a little girl's, and she only knew twenty-three words. I know this for a fact, because we kept a list of the things Mama said tacked to the inside of the kitchen cabinet. Most of the words were common ones, like good and more and hot, but there was one word only my mother said, soof.
Although she lives an unconventional lifestyle with her mentally disabled mother and their doting neighbor, Bernadette, Heidi has a lucky streak that has a way of pointing her in the right direction. When a mysterious word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi's thirst for the truth leads her on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.
A dramatic tour de force by the best-selling author of Regular Guy.
So B. It Review 
2008-01-06
"So B. It" - A Moving and Suspenseful Story
A story telling the tale of Heidi unraveling secrets of her mother
By Kelly Lockerbie
December 20, 2007
"So B. It" by Sarah Weeks
So B. It, 245 pages, is a moving story about a thirteen year old girl named Heidi. She has no father, and does not remember anything about him. The sad part is, Heidi's mother, whom Heidi calls "Mama," has a mental disorder, or a "bum brain," as Heidi calls it. Heidi and Mama both live with Bernadette, or "Bernie," who used to be their next door neighbor, until Mama showed up with Heidi on her front doorstep. Bernie takes care of both Mama and Heidi.
Heidi does not know anything about her mother, or what happened to her in the past. She keeps track of her mother's slow progress, and notices that occasionally Mama would throw out the word "soof." Mama doesn't know many words; in fact, she only knows twenty-three. Because Mama knows a word that no one knows, this interests Heidi. She becomes determined to find the meaning.
Throughout the book, Heidi tries to gather clues towards the meaning of "soof," because she believes that it could possibly reveal her past.
The protagonist of this story is Heidi, and the book tells the book from her point of view. She is the narrator. Towards the beginning of the book, Heidi does not know anything about her mom, or even how she herself was born. All she knows is that her mom showed up on Bernie's front doorstep and in need of help. Basically, she was frustrated! She didn't know anything that happened before Bernie found her.
However, when Heidi visits various places, places she knew to go to from clues she gathered, she stops fighting with the past. Even thought she learns something about the story of her life, she has matured and understands that certain things in her and her mother's life will remain a mystery.
The theme of this story is love. Not romantic love, but love and affection for those who care about you. Heidi loved her mom, because she tried her hardest to take care of her despite her setbacks. Heidi also loved Bernadette. Without Bernie, Heidi and her mom would not have been able to survive. Heidi depended on Mama, and Mama depended on Bernie. Bernie held the family together.
From this reading I learned to be thankful for things I wouldn't normally expect to be grateful for. For example, my "identity." Since Mama is mentally challenged and can't remember anything in the past, Heidi didn't know a lot about who she is. She didn't have concrete evidence of facts that that average person does today. She spent a large amount of time trying to decipher things that we are basically handed to in a silver platter. By this I mean that we don't have to work hard to get information about ourselves, while Heidi was traveling far out of her way.
I would undoubtedly recommend this book for other readers, whether they are younger or older. This book wouldn't be difficult for younger people to read, but more critical readers (people in English 10H) would have a better grasp on the moral and meaning of the book. They would know what the author is trying to get across, the meaning of love.
A Very Moving Book 2008-01-04
"Things aren't the way they are supposed to be," I said.
"How are they supposed to be?" she asked.
"A person is supposed to know where they came from, Bernie."
This is the burning question that Heidi It is determined to find out. Heidi is a 12 year old girl who lives with her mentally disabled mother and Bernadette, their caring neighbor. Trying to find the answer to this question leads her on a cross country journey to find out her history in this moving novel, So B. It, by Sarah Weeks.
She wants to find where she and her mother came from before they showed up at Bernadette's door in the apartment that they currently live in. She also wants to find out what "soof" means, a mysterious word that her mother repeatedly says and that seems to linger over Heidi wherever she goes.
This book is told through the eyes of Heidi in present day Reno. Throughout the book Sarah Weeks makes it so that you can feel the frustration, but also love that Heidi has towards her mother. Appearing to be slow-paced in the beginning, the book soon turns into a page-turning adventure where Heidi is an easily likeable character. Her bravery leads her to meet the most interesting people.
The novel is best suited for middle-aged girls who can understand everyday struggles, or ones need help to. Anyone who reads this will be left with the message of the book long after the last page is turned.
Very interesting 2007-12-19
The book that I read was So. B. It by Sarah Weeks. This book is realistic fiction because it could really happen to someone.
So. B. It is about a girl named Heidi. Her mom has something wrong with her, and can not speak. Her next door neighbor, Bernie, lives with her. When Heidi was looking through her kitchen drawers, she found an old disposable camera. When she got the film developed there was a picture of her mom and grandma that she did not know about. But in the background she saw a sign and it said Hilltop Home. After that she found out more than she knew. I enjoyed this book because it was very adventurous. If people enjoy sad and adventurous stories than this is the book for you. I also liked this book because it said that you can do `' anything you want without anyone stopping you.'' I think this book is best suited for sixth graders and 12 and 13 year olds.
Very interesting 2007-12-19
The book that I read was So. B. It by Sarah Weeks. This book is realistic fiction because it could really happen to someone.
So. B. It is about a girl named Heidi. Her mom has something wrong with her, and can not speak. Her next door neighbor, Bernie, lives with her. When Heidi was looking through her kitchen drawers, she found an old disposable camera. When she got the film developed there was a picture of her mom and grandma that she did not know about. But in the background she saw a sign and it said Hilltop Home. After that she found out more than she knew. I enjoyed this book because it was very adventurous. If people enjoy sad and adventurous stories than this is the book for you. I also liked this book because it said that you can do `' anything you want without anyone stopping you.'' I think this book is best suited for sixth graders and 12 and 13 year olds.
