Stop Pretending: what happened when my big sister went crazy

Sones, Sonya. 1999. Stop pretending: what happened when my big sister went crazy. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0060283866

Plot Summary

Cookie, a young teen, reveals the fear, confusion, and sadness she feels when her older sister has a nervous breakdown. Cookie’s sister has a psychotic break at Christmastime, and spends several months in an institution, which throws her entire family into crisis.

Critical Analysis

 

 “Based on Sones' own family experience, this debut novel shows the capacity of poetry to record the personal and translate it into the universal.” (Booklist) Sones gives voice to a mess of emotions and fears about losing her sister to mental illness and the toll it took upon her family. “An unpretentious, accessible book that could provide entry points for a discussion about mental illness-its stigma, its realities, and its affect on family members.” (School Library Journal)

 

Short narrative poems give this verse novel the feel of a journal. Cookie’s fears and emotions are explored day-to-day, showing the gradual transition from crisis to healing.

Review Citation

Cart, Michael. "Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy." Booklist 15 Nov. 1999: 612.

Korbeck, Sharon. 1999. "Grades 5 & Up: Fiction." School Library Journal 45, no. 10: 160.