Review of Stop Pretending: Went What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones

1. Bibliography
Sones, Sonya. 1999. STOP PRETENDING: WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY. New York: Harper Collins Children's Books. ISBN 9780064462181

2. Plot Summary
Sonya Sones writes a poignant, emotionally raw novella in verse based on the true story of when her older sister was committed on Christmas Eve and diagnosed with manic depression when Sones herself was about to turn thirteen. Written from a young teen's perspective, the main character Cookie takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster journey of discovering how she deals with absent of mind parents, a sister who becomes a stranger, friends that abandon her, and a new love that makes her feel alive again.

3. Critical Analysis
The novella begins with a poem entitled, "My Whole Family," which helps the reader understand just how close this family is until the second poem, "My Sister's Christmas Eve Breakdown," rapidly changes the tone from warm and fuzzy to confused and foreign. The author approaches her writing in a "no holds bar" manner in which she captures the reader's attention simply by being real and completely exposed. The narrator, Cookie, is brought to life in the poems through the use of the author's figurative language and intermittent dialogues. Most poems are written in free verse with very specific punctuation marks, pauses and spaces embedded within them. The poems that are written with any sort of rhyme such as, "Sister's Voices" or "Hospitalized," are very purposeful. The rhymes correlate to words that are very emotional and need great stress. Most of the poems do not even have a specific rhyme scheme; only certain words are rhymed to send a message to the reader - mainly one of distress and confusion Cookie feels over the hospitalization of her sister. The poems about John, the new kid at school who only has eyes for Cookie, give the reader a much needed hope and a sense of relief from the serious themes in the book. The poems interweave in a way that help readers comprehend the story as a whole and the message that different people deal with messy situations in different ways. All of the elements of plot come cleverly together with the climax being about three quarters of the way in, and the resolution is not an ending but rather a new beginning, leaving the reader with a sense of satisfaction.

4. Review Excerpt(s) and Notable Awards

-THE BOSTON GLOBE: "Stop Pretending is a tour de foce debut. It celebrates truth-telling, and has a purity and passion that speaks to the heart."
-ALA BOOKLIST (starred review):  "The poems have a cumulative emotional power. They record the personal and translate it into the universal."
-SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Unpretentious. Accessible. Deeply felt."
-THE HORN BOOK: "Sensitively written."
-KIRKUS REVIEWS: "The poems take on life and movement, the individual frames of a movie that in the unspooling become animated, telling a compelling tale."

Winner of:
Christopher Award
Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry
Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award
Gradiva Award for Best Poetry Book
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
IRA/CBC Young Adults' Choice
New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
Teen People Book Club selection
Los Angeles Times Book Prize nomination
ALA Top Ten Quick Pick
ALA Popular Paperback for Young Adults

5. Connections

A. This book can be read independently with selected poems read aloud by the teacher and students in class for deeper discussion. Small group and whole class literature circle discussions would be beneficial in understanding the novel's themes.
B. Grammar lessons - Poetry imitation could take place. Sentence and punctuation imitation would be excellent here also. Discussions over why Sones writes one poem this way and the next one another way.
C. This book could be used in a psychology or child development class at the high school level as a bridge for research projects on mental diseases and/or how families cope when a member is diagnosed.

Other books in verse by Sonya Sones for teens:
Sones, Sonya. WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN'T KNOW. ISBN 9780689876035
Sones, Sonya. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW. ISBN 9780689855535
Sones, Sonya. ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. ISBN 9781416907886

Other poetry novels with serious themes:
Smith, Kirstin. THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD. ISBN 0316017353
Hopkins, Ellen. CRANK. ISBN 978-1416995135

On a side note: I have read most of Sonya Sones' other publications, and I loved them. Never having read this book until now was quite a treat! I absolutely loved this novel of poetry and want to buy multiple copies for my collection at school. So many teenagers go through some sort of depression or know someone who has, and this emotionally heartfelt book of verse is so real, so raw, it has to be read....and aloud! I was deeply touched by this book. Having a father who was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder when I was a bit younger than Sones really hit home and made me think back to a time similar to the author's experience.


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