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19th out of 146 books
—
404 voters
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy
by
Sonya Sones
It happens just like that, in the blink of an eye. An older sister has a mental breakdown and has to be hospitalized. A younger sister is left behind to cope with a family torn apart by grief and friends who turn their backs on her. But worst of all is the loss of her big sister, her confidante, her best friend, who has gone someplace no one can reach.
In the tradition of T...more
In the tradition of T...more
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
April 25th 2006
by HarperTeen
(first published October 21st 1999)
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People often write about what it's like to experience mental illness, but witnessing it is hardly ever writen about. Stop Pretending is the story of a girl who watches her sister decend into desperation, and the confusion that comes with watching someone you care about become unfamiliar to you. The book is written in a series of poems that paint a picture of the internal struggles she went through. It was interesting to watch the girl begin to question herself based on her sister's experiences....more
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Stop Pretending is a story of a young girl that suffers from a mental disorder. She grew up as a normal girl in a loving family and had an excellent relationship with her younger sister. Suddenly, she starts hearing voices in her head. It gets so out of control that she must be placed in a mental institution. The story is actually not told through the eyes of this girl, but by the younger sister, Cookie. It is an extremely emotional story written in free verse. Cookie recalls memories with her s...more
This is one of my favorite Book's because this book taught me alot one of the things that this book taught me was No matter what happens keep your head up high this book is really intresting is about a girl that her big sister had a nervous break down && now every one says she unormal just because her sister turn a lil bit crazy && people that she thouqht would be there for her was never there they just left her all alone with no body support buht her parents this also taught me...more
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Stop Pretending was an interesting but confusing book. I had to re-read that book over and over and i still dont get some of it. I liked how the family started to go and visit the one who went crazy. I also felt bad for the "normal" sister because she wasnt getting the attention that she wanted. I also liked how she kept the advice she got from her teacher. I hated how all her founds like disowned the "normal" friend because her sister went crazy. I think that people shouldnt care if they were r...more
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Stop Pretending is a narrative poem about Cookie, and on Christmas Eve her sister had a nervous breakdown. The next day Cookie's sister was institutionalized. Cookie becomes sad and afraid that she will one day also have a nervous breakdown. Cookie has a emotionally hard time coming to terms with her sister gone, and with her parents always fighting so the whole neighborhood can hear. Cookie eventually finds a passion that helps her cope. She finds photography. Cookie also becomes friends with a...more
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Sonya Sones is masterful at packing emotion into few words. Verse fiction demands that, as well as cadence and sensory detail. STOP PRETENDING is based on true events when Sones was young and her older sister suffered a mental breakdown. I was overwhelmed with the honesty and heart in these verses. Having mentally unstable family members myself I found this book to be moving on a personal level and important on a universal level.
Sones shows moments of her sister's scary and unpredictable actions...more
Sones shows moments of her sister's scary and unpredictable actions...more
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One Christmas Eve, 13-year-old Cookie's big sister has a nervous breakdown: "A wild-eyed Jewish girl wearing only a nightgown," she rushes out the door to Midnight Mass. Following this manic moment, the sister is institutionalized. This haunting novel, told entirely in Cookie's first-person poems, is the story of what happens in the wake of this emotional disaster. Some of it is heartbreakingly predictable--Cookie is terrified that she will have a breakdown, her former friends shun her, her pare...more
Katie Young
Poetry
This book is a collection of short, poignant poems written by Sonya Sones when she was 13 and her 19 year old sister went crazy one Christmas Eve. The poems tell the story of her life through this tragic event and vividly describe her feelings, thoughts, fears, and hopes for herself, her sister, and her family. The poems take the reader from her adoration of her beautiful and smart older sister and then to her breakdown and hospitalization. When her sister begins to recover, Son...more
Poetry
This book is a collection of short, poignant poems written by Sonya Sones when she was 13 and her 19 year old sister went crazy one Christmas Eve. The poems tell the story of her life through this tragic event and vividly describe her feelings, thoughts, fears, and hopes for herself, her sister, and her family. The poems take the reader from her adoration of her beautiful and smart older sister and then to her breakdown and hospitalization. When her sister begins to recover, Son...more
I thought this book was very powerful. It showed a girl's, Cookie's, perspective of how it is to live with a sister that went crazy. These various poems describe her life from the moment her sister was put in the hospital and just like a domino effect, her life changed from continuous reactions. Through these poems it is shown how she truly misses her life before with her sister from all the things they did together and how close they were. She misses that time when she had a true family. But no...more
LOVE LOVE LOVED this book, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting to. Poetry isn't typically my forte, but this I thought was beautiful. It related her feelings in an honest simple way, including only the imagery that she felt or saw-it didn't feel forced or like it was trying to impress someone with how many big words she could write or how much feelings she could burden you with, like some other poetry is. It just felt honest-there were good days for her [and her sister and family] and...more
In celebration of National Poetry Month I am devouring Verse Novels all month long. Stop Pretending is an amazing read and a great place to start this month off right. Cookie is forced to deal with something that many pretend does not exist, or at least many can ignore. Cookie can't ignore her sister's mental breakdown and her stay in the Psych Ward. When her sister is committed Cookie's world starts to unravel - her parents are either fighting or pretending everything is alright. She becomes si...more
Stop Pretending was a book that looks at a sisters point of veiw on her older sister (whom shes suppose to look up to)when she snaps, and goes crazy. her older sister does not make sesne, hardly remembers people who love her most. It Really paints a picture in your mind with every word that is written; at some level, "stop pretending" could be considered poetry, but to me i just took it as a diary by a 13 year old girl and the struggles she goes thrugh while in this position. The book goes throu...more
The Gist
This book is a collection of poems that make up a story about a girl who has schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disease that makes you hear voices, see hallucinations, smells odors that other people don’t smell, and even feel things like fingers grabbing your arm even though nobody is around. It is a very serious condition and the main character in this book has a sister who has it. Cookie’s sister had always been normal. Then one night, completely out of nowhere, her sister goes c...more
This book is a collection of poems that make up a story about a girl who has schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disease that makes you hear voices, see hallucinations, smells odors that other people don’t smell, and even feel things like fingers grabbing your arm even though nobody is around. It is a very serious condition and the main character in this book has a sister who has it. Cookie’s sister had always been normal. Then one night, completely out of nowhere, her sister goes c...more
I loved this book! I never read a book of poetry that told a story before. Sonya Sones uses poetry as a way to express her emotions during the time her sister spends in a psychiatric ward. The book reads like a journal, but in the form of poems. The second poem in the book describes her sister’s mental breakdown on Christmas Eve. Subsequent poems describe how she hides this fact from her friends for a short time and how they react when she finally tells them. Sones also writes about her visits t...more
Jun 02, 2008
Zach
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people how love reading
Recommended to Zach by:
Mrs. Lawton
This is a complicated book because it is full of diary enteres, but once you start reading it, you start thinking what if this happened to me or i wonder what it would be like to have a crazy sister. If you think you are an outcast yourself then you should definally read this to get your mind off things that are bad right now and look and read of what this girl has to deal with her family and her sister. I liked this book because it was way different then all the other ones at the time.
This was a cute book of poems for a middle school girl. I wasn't terribly impressed by the poetry itself, but it was varied and honest. It actually reminded me a lot of the poetry I used to write in middle school. I wasn't terribly convinced by the sister's insanity, however. I think it might have helped to know what her mental issue was because, in this day and age, people don't just "go crazy", we actually diagnose them with something. I felt like a 13-year-old would be able to handle the info...more
I enjoyed Sonya Sones style of writing. This is the first book I read with the unique prose style. I learned to be more conscious about judging people by his/her family members. At one point, the sister felt people were pointing and staring at her because her sister went to a mental institution. She questioned herself and had doubts about what her life will entail. Will this happen to here? Her self worth was caught up in something she had no control over.
This was an amazing book! I could not put it down. It is all poems and it is very quick and easy to read. There were so many emotions going throughout this book from, not only the author, but for the reader as well.
This book was written in poem form because the authors sister had been put into a psychiatric ward. She went through all her thoughts and put them in poem form so she could express how she was feeling. It's incredible how much strength this 13 year old girl had while she was struggli...more
This book was written in poem form because the authors sister had been put into a psychiatric ward. She went through all her thoughts and put them in poem form so she could express how she was feeling. It's incredible how much strength this 13 year old girl had while she was struggli...more
These poems illustrate a girl’s journey of discovery when her sister was placed in a psychiatric ward and diagnosed as manic-depressive. Her once close family became strangers as her mother retreated into depression while her father turned to the TV to block out the pain. Sonya describes her feelings of fear, hopelessness, sorrow, and lonliness as she processed her sister’s madness. Going through the grieving process, she documented feelings of weariness, anger, and pain. After a time, small gli...more
Feb 14, 2011
Mina Rivera
added it
i thought this book was very emotional. i thought it was very emotional for the girl who always had her sister with her and now she felt all alone without her. i think she saw her sister go crazy at such a young age that she was so confused about it. ontop of it she had to see her parents stressed out and she had no attetion. it was either about her sister or something about the hospital. i think it was good that she started loving herself because she realized it was something she had to do. she...more
This book was well crafted and kept me interested by the captivating subject of insanity presented in the story. I've decided that I like the poetry format; it made the book feel like a journal and that made it vivid and real to me. I could understand and relate to the style of writing because it was very raw, with simple wording yet a heavy weight to each sentence. I've written poetry in that same style when I've experienced intense emotional moments, so it all was very accurate and believable...more
Sonya Sones wrote this novel about a young teen whose older sister is hospitalized for a psychiatric episode from her own personal experience -- and it shows. The writing is powerful and heartfelt. I'm an enormous fan of novels in free verse, and this one did not disappoint. It's amazing how effectively a multitude of short poems can convey emotion and tell a coherent story. The book is a quick read but one that leaves a strong impression. My only question was why there was no mention of medicat...more
Jun 02, 2009
Jenna Randell
added it
This book was a really good book. it caught my eye. one second her sister is a normal person, living a normal life. the next day she's gone into a crazy stage and was put in the psych ward. Her younger sister AKA Cookie, is the one telling the story and the troubles that she faces in school. at first everything was normal because Cookie kept her life out of conversation. But one day she wanted to know what her friends would say or how they would act if she told them that her sister was crazy. Sh...more
After Cookie's older sister has a mental breakdown and ends up being hospitalized, Cookie struggles with accepting the situation. She worries not only about her sister but also about how her friends and classmates will react when they hear about her sister. Cookie fears that she will also develop mental illness. As the family adjust to their new reality, Cookie visits her sister often and tries to reestablish the connection they once had.
This short novel-in-verse packs a powerful punch as it po...more
This short novel-in-verse packs a powerful punch as it po...more
I've read this book countless times since I was younger and each time I read it I remeber why I enjoyed it. This books brings back memories from when I was younger.
Normally readers read books from the point of view of the "crazy person" Rarely do the readers get a chance to see what it feels like out the outside from a younger siblings. In the book you can see of a sister who truly loves her sister and reminisce about the past. The younger sister constantly questions herself worrying that the c...more
Normally readers read books from the point of view of the "crazy person" Rarely do the readers get a chance to see what it feels like out the outside from a younger siblings. In the book you can see of a sister who truly loves her sister and reminisce about the past. The younger sister constantly questions herself worrying that the c...more
I have just finished Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones. This is the 3rd book I have read by Sonya Sones, and she again leaves me astonished by her powerful writing, honesty, and realism-expressed trough out her book. Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy is an autobiography filled with strong themes and issues. The main character and narrator’s name is Cookie she tells an inspiring story growing up with a manic-depressive sister....more
This is my favorite novel in verse. The poems are a catharsis – Sones documents how her life fell apart in the wake of her real-life older sister’s breakdown. In 3 and 4 word bursts, 13-year-old Cookie voices her confusion, anger and fear for her own sanity. She also makes it clear that life goes on for everyone involved: with moments of both triumph as well as pain for herself, her parents, and her sister.
It’s harder to appreciate the poetic style. The pages turn so fast. I didn’t recognize a...more
It’s harder to appreciate the poetic style. The pages turn so fast. I didn’t recognize a...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I loved reading this book i actually cried when i read this. This book is about a girl that has a sister with needs. i Started crying because i have a younger and older sister and i thought of my sisters having needs and my parents not always caring or visiting her at the center. This book is very intense and i would love to read it again and i think i will when break is over. The ending of the book is nice because the whole family is at the center and there all playing a baord game and laughin...more
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| Mrs. Gallagher's ...: book review yo. | 1 | 2 | May 02, 2013 04:27am | |
| THIS BOOK! | 3 | 35 | Feb 03, 2012 10:16am |
I was born in Boston and overprotected in the nearby suburb of Newton. I thought I would be an artist when I grew up. I loved sneaking upstairs to a tiny room in our attic, where I could while away the hours drawing pictures of dinosaurs. The summer I turned seventeen, I fell in love with making animated films (not to mention at least a couple of boys). Soon after, I enrolled in Hampshire College...more
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“Ready or not, here I come
I'm so tired of this dumb game of hide and seek
Olly olly oxen free
Show yourself, you're scaring me
Come out, come out, where ever you are
You've taken this thing way too far”
—
12 people liked it
I'm so tired of this dumb game of hide and seek
Olly olly oxen free
Show yourself, you're scaring me
Come out, come out, where ever you are
You've taken this thing way too far”
“Madame V
begins the lesson
by reading aloud the first stanza
of a famous French poem:
Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui penetre mon coeur?
Then she looks up
and without any warning
she calls on me to translate it.
I swallow hard, and try:
"It's raining in my heart
like it's raining in the city.
What is this sadness
that pierces my heart?"
Saying these words out loud,
right in front of the whole class,
makes me feel
like I'm not wearing any clothes.”
—
11 people liked it
More quotes…
begins the lesson
by reading aloud the first stanza
of a famous French poem:
Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui penetre mon coeur?
Then she looks up
and without any warning
she calls on me to translate it.
I swallow hard, and try:
"It's raining in my heart
like it's raining in the city.
What is this sadness
that pierces my heart?"
Saying these words out loud,
right in front of the whole class,
makes me feel
like I'm not wearing any clothes.”
