STOP PRETENDING

 

A. Bibliographic Data

Sones, Sonya. 2016.  Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy. HarperTeen. ISBN: 9780064462181

B. Summary

A groundbreaking and profoundly moving story told in verse, about a beloved sister who is hospitalized after a sudden mental breakdown. A young girl is left behind to cope with a family torn by grief, friends who shun her, and her fear that she too might lose her mind one day. A true story by the award-winning author Sonya Sone whose own story explores the world of mental illness, and what it's like for everyone involved.

C. Critical Analysis

  Stop Pretending is written in a hybrid mixture of poetry and narrative. I loved the truth that this book shares and I feel it's relatable to anyone who has a mental illness or knows someone who does. Sonya Sones wrote this book more for herself in the beginning and because of this, you get to see the raw words of her experience. When she was finally published you find that she asked her sister first and her sister was happy about it because she wants to help others who are going through the same issues. I connected with this book because I have experienced both sides of mental illness. To see others who have been through worrying are going to go crazy yourself one day or being torn when someone you know experiences a profound mental episode that affects your entire family. You often wonder if people out there in the world truly understand what it's like and how it feels for you to experience these struggles along with a large percentage of people who are supposed to be friends or even extended family that don’t understand what is going on. Often outsiders don’t understand it at all and often think “mental illness” is a joke. I found reading her narrative helped fill in some of own holes in my heart. It makes you feel like hey you aren’t alone. I feel for young adults this book would help them overcome some of their own emotions and struggles as well as how to understand those around you who are experiencing these things in life that you haven’t yet. I recommend this book to all as it is an eye-opener and is very prevalent in this day and age.

D.  Book Revie

“The poems have a cumulative emotional power.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)

“Heartfelt.” — KLIATT (starred review)

“The poems take on life and movement, the individual frames of a movie that in the unspooling become animated, telling a compelling tale.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Unpretentious. Accessible. Deeply felt.” — School Library Journal

“Sensitively written.” — The Horn Book

“This debut novel shows the capacity of poetry to record the personal and translate it into the universal.” — Chicago Tribune

“Stop Pretending is a tour de force debut. It celebrates truth-telling and has a purity and passion that speaks to the heart.” — Boston Globe

E. Connections

·        This book could be used in a variety of discussion settings, and even part of therapy sessions.

·        This is a great way to help students understand the different types of poetry out there and they can experience writing in this format as well.

·        I would have my students check out the author’s website because it’s interesting to read about why she wrote the book, and how her sister is now.

There are numerous resources for teachers, mental health websites, and reading guides. * I linked each word to the author's linked pages.