(Book Cover Source: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40619587&referer=brief_results, accessed October 12th, 2008)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Sones, Sonya. 1999. Stop pretending: What happened when my big sister went crazy. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0060283874
2. SUMMARY:
The title Stop Pretending: What happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy is in itself a brief summary of the book. When the author was 13, her 19 year old sister did, in fact, have a breakdown, was diagnosed as manic-depressive, and was hospitalized. The Stop Pretending part of the title is a reference to the conflicted feelings the author felt toward her sister at the time. Anger, shame, pain, fear, hope, denial and confusion were all churning inside of her. At one point she writes that she wants her sister to stop pretending that she doesn't know her - which encapsulates these conflicted feelings.
To cope with these tumultuous feelings, the author wrote in journals during that time. At a later point, she used those journals and her memories as a starting point for what ultimately became this verse novel, told in the first person from "Cookie's" perspective. In over 100 poems, Sones uses free verse to record the journey of her sister's descent into a nervous breakdown and ultimate return to coherence. This rocky path is punctuated by poems reflecting Sones' conflicted thoughts about the emotional unavailability of her parents, her fears that her friends will find out and reject her, her nostalgia for when things were better, her grief over the loss of her close relationship with her sister, and many other nuances of the experience. As healing slowly occurs, the author is able to begin enjoying her own life, as when she begins her first relationship with a boy. The novel closes with a final verse, celebrating that her sister is better. Following the final verse, the author has included an "Author's Note" in which she shares the autobiographical nature of the novel, how she came to write it, and a list of contact numbers for readers seeking help for themselves or a family member.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Sones' first novel is a courageous attempt to tackle a complex, emotionally wrought subject. Topically, the poems are often wrenching, soul-bearing confessions. In "The Truth Is" she writes, "I don't want to see you./I dread it./There./I've said it." Her efforts to reassure herself that she will not turn out like her sister are poignantly defiant as she writes in the poem "You Are" - "You are crazy. I am not." When her worst fears are realized and her friends snub her at school and pass notes about her, she writes, "I hate them all." It is this candor that resonates with the reader. While their own life circumstances may be dissimilar, the young adult audience for which this book is intended will empathize with the feelings Sones is venting. The verse format aids in its accessibility by its brevity, as well as the intensity and candor with which she writes. Reluctant readers will find it fairly easy to read. Those looking for genuine, moving content will find satisfaction here.
Stylistically, there is quite a bit of variety in the poems. In the Author's Note, Sones writes that the book began as an assignment for a creative writing course in which she was asked to write a poem using falling rhythms, and "Hospitalized" was born. While the majority of the poems could be characterized as free verse, there are ample examples of rhyming, assonance, and consonance, which enrich the sound of the poems. "The Truth Is," mentioned above, is an example of the rhyming type. "Midnight Swing" includes phrases like "sweet scented pine, evergreen trees," and "midnight ice." Much of the imagery is rather ordinary. However, it serves to reinforce the sense that Cookie's world is not so different from the reader's commonplace world. Rather, it is the circumstance that has been thrust upon her that seems extraordinary. This also serves to showcase the main focus of the poems - the emotions. Rather than a clever turn of phrase or lovely image, it is the resonance of the raw expression of feelings that the reader will take away from this book, as well as the hope and peace that comes from knowing that a painful journey like this can be survived.
As a former psychotherapist, I purposefully chose this verse novel because of the topic. I confess to having concerns that mental illness might be trivialized or worse, glamorized for impressionable teens. I was relieved to find that Sones treated mental illness in a realistic way. I was even more impressed by how she candidly explored the ripple effect it has on family members and their relationships. Knowing that this was an autobiographical experience also lends authenticity to what she has portrayed. Finally, I was pleased that it ended on a positive, hopeful note, with useful information for those seeking help.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS:
Booklist: "The poems have a cumulative emotional power that creeps up on the reader, culminating in a moving, unexpected line or phrase . . . This debut novel shows the capacity of poetry to record the personal and translate it into the universal."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: "The subject is gripping and the ambivalent emotions sincere . . . but the overall effect falls short. The images are generally flat and predictable, the ironies run to cliche, and the poetry is too often prosaic."
School Library Journal: "An unpretentious, accessible book . . . the simply crafted but deeply felt poems reflect her thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams."
5. CONNECTIONS:
*The intensely personal nature of this book, along with its unsettling subject matter call for thoughtful consideration regarding how it might be used.
- It would certainly be an excellent source for school counselors to use for teens dealing with issues of mental illness in their lives.
- It would be an excellent book for a high school psychology class to read and discuss.
- For more traditional literature courses, it could be used as a fine example of a verse novel.
- Also, many teens will relate to some of the universal feelings described within it and be able to generalize them to their own lives. If a teacher thought it would be appropriate, it might prompt a writing assignment in which students shared intense feelings from their lives in verse form.
- Finally, if one is looking for another title to shed more light on this subject for a teen seeking further information, one might suggest:
Johnson, Julie Tallard. Understanding mental illness: for teens who care about someone with mental illness. ISBN 0822595745
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