Friday, May 11, 2012

Follow Friday - Mothers Day edition


Follow Friday is a feature created by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  It's a fun blog hop where you meet other book bloggers and find people to follow.
Question: This Sunday in the U.S. is Mother's Day, in celebration, what are some of your favorite books with strong mother/child relationships?
This question was a tough one for me.  Like many Disney movies, mothers are often absentee in YA books.  Either that or their evil, or controlling or in some way the bad guy.  YA doesn't do mothers very well most of the time. If you asked me to come up with a list of bad mothers that would be much simpler.

For me, one of my favorite would have to be Hex Hall.  Sophie's mother has been as supportive as a non-magical parent can be to her teenage witch daughter.  She learned everything she could about magic and raised Sophie by herself.  They banter, they support and eventually they fight evil side by side.

Another mother/daughter relationship that I enjoy is Ruby & Elaine Oliver.  It's not perfect.  Often it's messy, with Ruby's mom going for chapters without talking to her daughter.  But thoughout the series it's obvious that she loves her daughter very much.  Why else would she buy a great dane to live on their tiny houseboat? Why else would they send Ruby to a therapist despite meager incomes?  Elaine Oliver makes mistakes, a lot of them. But she loves her daughter.  I love how complicated and messy their relationship is because it feels more realistic.

30 comments:

Unknown said...

I thought of Sophie and her mom as well! but who is Ruby? what book is she from?

Thanks for the follow! I followed back :)

veela-valoom said...

Ruby is from The Boyfriend List. I normally just refer to them as the "Ruby Oliver books" lol. Glad you caught that. They're so great!

Unknown said...

Hi Vella-valoom . . . my mother, may she rest in peace, was like a fairy princess in a Disney story. Even though she couldn't sing, she was lovely, quiet and taught me about faith. I'm afraid my kids (two teenage girls) look at me more like the wicked witch or evil stepmom, even though I definitely gave birth to them. So many stories and I'd like to believe we're all just doing the best we can. Motherhood is the most difficult "job" I've ever tried to tackle.

Cheers,
M

RuthB said...

Thanks for stopping by!
I haven't read The Boyfriend List :)
It was really hard to find a book with a good mother-child relationship, mostly they are dead or the relationship is not good! I don't know why!!!
I'm hosting a giveaway feel free to enter
http://booksaremywayofliving.blogspot.com/2012/05/giveaway-magic-warble.html

Sophie said...

This would be like the third post I've read about Hex Hall. Good read? might have to check it out:)
This was a tricky questions, strange that it should be so tricky, I agree with Michele though, we all place so much more responsibility and judgment on mothers, so finding books with "good" ones is always much harder.
New follower via FF. Return the favor? Would mean the world:)

Gin said...

I haven't read your picks either. This is my first FF and I'm loving all these book recommendations!

Thanks for stopping by!

Reading Kelly said...

I haven't read either of these but the sound interesting. I'm going to have to look into them. Thanks for stopping by.
Following via RSS :) Happy reading!

Stormi said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Old follower.

Stormi

Daniela said...

My friend loves the Hex Hall series! Knowing there's a strong mom there makes me want to give it a try. I've got The Boyfriend List on my to-read list too.

Anyway, new follower here! Here's my FF.

JennRenee said...

i haven't read Hex Hall yet. new follower.

my friday http://jennreneeread.blogspot.com/2012/05/follow-friday-17-and-tgif-2.html

Unknown said...

It is strange how many novels have nonexistent parents... I suppose it makes it easier for the child to participate in some adventure. But a lot of YA books have grandmothers who are active in their lives. Thanks for stopping by!

Laura said...

Hi!
I haven't read Hex Hall or The Boyfriend list, but I totally agree on the fact there don't seem to exist a ton of great mothers in YA :) Thanks for following, by the way. Made sure to follow you back!

MOLLIE(Tough Critic Book Reviews) said...

Nice choice! I didn't even think about Hex Hall! Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Unknown said...

hello :)
thanks for stopping by my blog!
I have not had the pleasure of reading about the relationships that you write about but I will make sure to try and make some time to! they sound good.
and I love the connection to Disney that you make! it's so true that the mothers are non existent for the most part! (i <3 Disney)
thanks for stopping by! please do anytime

~aspen

Tas said...

I really can't believe I didn't think of Sophie and her mother, I totally agree with what you said about their relationship. YA books really do lack in mother/child relationships!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Cayce said...

I haven't read either of the books, but Hex Hall sounds interesting, I might check it out. :)

Thanks for stopping by my FF, following you back.
Happy Reading~

Addie R. said...

Great answer. :) I haven't read either of these books yet.
Thanks for stopping by!

collettakay said...

Yes, mothering is a most difficult job. I just had a "talk" with mine about being part of taking care of the house and not expecting everything given to them. I'm afraid that today I might be on the lovely mother list :)

Colletta

Makayla said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog!!
New Follower!!

caffeinejunkie said...

Followed back! Thanks for stopping by the blog.:) I haven't read that book.

Lauren @ Northern Plunder said...

Haven't actually read Hex Hall :)
Glad you could think of one.

Ivana said...

Hi! I haven't read Hex Hall, but I keep getting recommendations and will definitely have to check it out. Thank you for stopping by my blog, I'm following now :)

Leah Marie said...

I haven't read Hex Hall or the The Boyfriend List, but you've made both sound intriguing.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Taylor said...

I totally forgot about Sophie and her mom! They definitely have a great relationship :D

Thanks so much for stopping by! New follower here :)

<3
Taylor

fakesteph said...

I love Sophie and her mom! And the Olivers. :):) Great picks!

Catie said...

omg you're right, ya books are like disney movies!

new follower :)
My FF

Jennifer said...

I forgot about the Hex Hall series! Such a great relationship...thanks for reminding me! Old follower!

@MelissaJoLynn_ said...

I love Hex Hall and sophie's relationship with her mom. I still need to read the last book in that series!

Anonymous said...

Haven't read any of those books, unfortunately. But I've heard that from Hex Hall, too! :)

Louisa @ Words I Write Crazy said...

Oh, I just read the last Hex Hall novel and it was so good, and we got to see their mother/daughter relationship a lot more :) New follower! Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!