STOP PRETENDING: What happened when my big sister went crazy

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sones, Sonya. 1999. STOP PRETENDING: What happened when my big sister went crazy. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-028386-6

2. PLOT SUMMARY:
This spellbinding recount of a young girl’s experiences when her older sister was stricken with a mental illness is based on true events from the author’s life. One horrifying Christmas Eve, 13 year-old Sonya's life came to a halt when her 19-year-old big sister, best-friend, and steadfast confidante, suffers a nervous breakdown. In her verse novel, Sones relates through heartrending poems how deeply she admired her sister and what a loss it was when her sister lost herself.

This novel delves into the emotions of anxiousness (going crazy herself), guilt (feeling ashamed of her sister for going crazy), bewilderment (the parents she knew by heart turn dramatically different toward her and each other), confusion (what caused her sister to go crazy?, “or maybe it was something/ I did”), longing (she remembers the months leading up to the “snap", loss of control (she demands her sister stop pretending she’s crazy), anger (as the fear of her friends finding out what really happened THAT night and turn their backs on her, came true), longing (for the sister she could count on), and finally hope (when her sister shows signs of healing along with the rest of the family). Sones draws the reader in to experience these emotions using flashbacks from the past and heartbreaking narrative verses in the present.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSYS
This autobiographical prose novel is a page turner and should definitely hold appeal for teen readers (and ‘old’ readers alike). Sonya Sones wrote from the perspective of a young teenager; and because her first “draft” came from her own writing she kept from that dark period of her adolescent life, her heartfelt poems ring with emotion and truth. Sones chose her words so carefully; anyone who has endured watching a loved one disappear in front of their own eyes could fall into the poetry and find a kindred spirit. Some of the poems written in free verse recounting Sones compelling experiences and emotions could stand alone, however, brought together tell a story of torment, resilience and hope.

The language in Sones' poems are filled with imagery. Her opening verse describes her entire family cuddled together in a hammock on a “moondappled” beach, as they “swayed together as one.” Her second verse “My Sister’s Christmas Eve Breakdown” describes her sister’s fall from reality and the aftermath of that day: That day/I sank into/ the wall, wondering what/these three people were doing in/my house. When a new boy comes to school the description of their first date begs the readers to remember their own: Our eyes/are glued to the/screen/but our thoughts are glued/to the spot where our elbows are/touching"

The rhythm of the poems range from short, emotion-charged and snappy, to longer and more thought provoking. Each one is so well crafted the reader ends the book feeling as though he or she knows each member of the protagonist’s family and the torment, fear and feeling of helplessness that comes with a loved one gone insane. Near the end of the book the poems become more hopeful down to the last one that recounts the family playing a game of Scrabble where the rules are tossed away and words like “SPIDOSAL” become acceptable. Sones last word played, BETTER, offers the reader the hope that the worst of times are over and life is looking up.

The audience for this book is apt to relate to the author’s feelings and find a connection with the emotions and personal experience described so expressively. It is an opportunity for students to experience a story written in narrative form using poetry. Even readers who have not felt the devastation mental illness brings to a family are likely to feel empathy for families who live through the horror and loss of a loved one no longer recognizable.

Sones includes an author’s note to explain her personal connection to her writing. She tells about the hundreds of journals she has kept throughout her life and her reluctance, at first, to share her sister’s story. Her sister was extremely supportive of her efforts because “she hopes the book will be used to open up discussions about mental illness.” Sones also includes names of organizations and numbers that can be called to receive help if the reader is concerned about the mental health of themselves or a loved one

4. REVIEWS AND EXCERPT(S)
Children’s Literature - This is one of the most beautiful and most disturbing books aimed at young people that I have ever read. Beautiful not just in its use of free verse, but in the use of language and images that brings even mundane subjects to life…For anyone who has actually had this experience, the book can only be read in short doses; for anyone who hasn't, it's a fantastic view of a world we would probably not want to be a part of.

Klaitt - The poetry is compelling. It is so heartfelt: the pain and confusion of a young teenager when her family life dissolves into chaos because of mental illness.

Kirkus – (The poems) take on life and movement, the individual frames of a movie that in the unspooling become animated, telling a compelling tale and presenting a painful passage through young adolescence. The form, a story-in-poems, fits the story remarkably well.

School Library Journal: 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.

Christopher Award for Best Children's Book
Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry
Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award
Gradiva Award for Best Poetry Book Berliner Kinder Prize in Germany
Chosen an American Library Association 2000 Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
Chosen an American Library Association 2000 Best Book for Young Adults

5. CONNECTIONS
To a budding genre that includes Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust (1997) and Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade (1993), this book is a welcome addition (Kirkus Reviews). Another book that would pair nicely with this book is AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS, by Gennifer Sholdenko. It is the account of a young teen named Moose who cared for his sister, Natalie. She had autism at a time when medical professionals did not understand the disorder.

This would be an excellent book to spark discussion about mental illnesses and help students understand what Sones' sister desires, [that people would have] “a better understanding of this disease, so they would treat its victims with more compassion.”

Modeling a poem written in free verse for the students and giving them opportunities to do the same may turn the most reluctant writers into famous poets.

Sonya Sones has an excellent website at http://sonyasones.com/. Here she includes links to her bio, frequently asked questions, writers only, and great books.