Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy Reviews

• This is a VERY good book!

  
  By on 1999-09-29
  I really liked Stop Pretending, even though I had to wait all afternoon for my mom to finish it. She kept saying "Oh, this is good! This is GOOD!" and then took the longest time to say she was done. Well, it was worth the wait because it WAS very good. The girl in the book sounded so real to me and she wrote all about her feelings which no one in her family really understood because they were so worried about their own feelings. No matter what, she loved her sister, and this is what made me really love the book. She never made what was happening to her sister sound easy and I know it's hard to admit how aful it is when someone in your family is sick, because you start to feel selfish if you do. When my brother was hit by a mailman he was in the hospital for a long time and my mom and dad spent all their time with him. Then he came home in a body cast for six months and he took up a lot of my parents time then too. I completley understood, but no one really understands how worried the other kids are too. I know that's different, but the worry is the same because you don't know whats happening and everyone sort of forgets to tell you. Anyway, this book is really, really good and I hate the word "crazy" because no one is really crazy, they're just sick. It's more ok to be sick in other ways than to be sick mentally. At least that's what a lot of kids think. Maybe grown ups too. I also liked the way this book was written because it was so pretty, even though the subject wasn't very pretty. I think a lot of kids should read this book because they will like the character a lot and it is about stuff they don't read about all the time. I'm going to do a book report on it as soon as Amazon sends me my copy.

  Thank you for writing this book, Sonya Sones. I hope you write more books for kids like me that love to read!

  Annie Hendershott age 14
  
  

• Magnificent Book Everyone HAS to read!

  
  By A2J7JHL75SE7DL on 1999-11-26
  This book is wonderful! Once I started to read it, I couldn't put it down, and I finished it all in one afternoon. The rest of the afternoon I walked around in a daze, unable to stop thinking about STOP PRETENDING. It is a powerful book, not hard to read, captivating, and a great story! I hope Ms. Sones writes another book really soon, because I can't wait to read it!
  
  

• POWERFUL!

  
  By on 1999-09-30
  Ms. Sones' writing touched me deeply. She allows the reader a glimpse of a world that is both moving and disturbing. I couldn't put the book down and as soon as I finished reading it, I turned to the first page and began again. With only a few words, she paints pictures so true and so deep, I was immersed in her experience. I would recommend this book for both adults and teens. It is the perfect example of the power of poetry.
  
  

• THIS IS A VERY MOVING BOOK!

  
  By on 2000-03-15
  I read this great book in one sitting. I'm fifteen years old. I showed it to my mother and she read it in one sitting, too. I think it's a fabulous book for any age, but it's maybe too intense for kids under twelve. It's based on the true story of what happens when the older sister of a thirteen year old girl has a nervous breakdown and has to be hospitalized. It's written from the point of view of the younger sister, in really beautiful and easy to understand poetry , but reads like a fast-paced novel. It made me cry four times. And laugh ,too! If you liked "Girl, Interupted", you'll LOVE this book.
  
  

• A wonderful story with an interesting twist

  
  By AEM0D3OFOR9RQ on 2000-05-30
  Though I know what it's like to be driven crazy by a sister, I don't know what it's like to have a sister who has such problems. With this book you go into the mind of Cookie, whom the author has based on herself. This book was truly a wonderful read, and what made it really great and original was that instead of chapters, it was composed of poems. I love poetry as well as books, and combining the two made this all the more better and all the more worthwhile. You can tell that Sonya Sones truly wrote it from the heart, especially since she went through the same exact thing. In fact, I think it says in the book that she wrote the poems while her sister was going through it. It's like she's cracked open her heart and let you look right into what she was feeling ( not to be graphic or anything ). A truly inspirational and loving novel. Read it immediately.
  
  
• An extraordinary book...
  By on 1999-09-27
  superbly written, as well. Considering the truthfulness of the subject matter, it could have easily fallen into the dark and depressing. Yet, Sones manages to show us that as life falls apart, it just as readily goes on. And the first person point of view, in poetic form, completely eluded a sense of hopelessness, while still grasping a young girl and her sisters reality head on. I enjoyed this book thoroughly as an adult, reading it all in a sitting. My fourteen year old daughter was equally drawn in, and never left her chair, from beginning to end. It is not every true story that manages the ring of truth, but this one is above board on all accounts, bringing the often untouchable subject matter of mental illness out in the open. Beautifully written, I highly reccomend it.
  
  
• Powerful emotions from a remarkable writer.
  By A22ECY1OSXEVS1 on 2001-07-03
  This book, STOP PRETENDING: WHAT HAPPED WHEN My BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY, was on a required reading list for a course I took in Young Adult Literature. I could not put it down.

  On Christmas Eve, "A wild-eyed Jewish girl wearing only a nightgown," rushes out of the house to go to Midnight Mass. She is in the midst of a nervous breakdown. After this, she is institutionalized, but life must go on for the family.

  Told through the poems of the younger sister, 13 year-old Cookie, this novel is based upon real life events of the author. In her poems, in which we have the unfolding of the story, Cookie reveals her great fear that this will happen to her as well. She deals with her issues of shame over her sisters' condition. She experiences memories of how life was before the breakdown, and almost lives in a denial of the experience. Her former friends reject Cookie. In her poems, Cookie captures the intense emotions and feelings in dealing with life, and all of the troublesome events of the aftermath of this life altering event.

  But not all is bad. Cookie finds photography, and begins a healing process. She meets a new boy at school who knows nothing of Cookies' sister, and they fall in love. Within these events, Cookie learns that life goes on, sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but it does go forward.

  The poems throughout vary in length, but mostly stick to free verse. The use of poems is an effective tool to convey the deep emotions. In the novel, the fate of her sister is unanswered, but seems hopeful in tone.

  In a final note to the book, Sones does shed light on the rest of the story in her own personal experience, with her own sisters success. She provides support websites and telephone numbers as resources for organizations which help people with emotional disorders and suffering from depression.

  If you know of anyone who faces the challenge of an institutionalized family member, please buy this book for them. It should provide a tool of dialogue and discussion for the family.

  As an added note, in the course I took, one of the class members contacted Sonya Sones, and we had an interview with her over the phone. She is delightful, and her upcoming work for publication will also be a novel told in poems. The selections she read ranged from hysterical to deeply pensive. I eagerly await this book, and have added STOP PRETENDING to the must order list for the opening of school (as I am a School Librarian.)
  
  

• A good book
  By on 2000-05-02
  The book "Stop Pretending" was great,it deals with love,friendship,and family. The author expresses feelings in the book very well,and the book is very easy to read,it is in poem format. The book takes turns,like one minute you will be reading about this and then it changes and you read something different. The main character in the book tells how she would hate to be like her crazy sister and while you read it you can sort of relate to her by the way she describes what she is talking about.While you read you can put yourself in the character's position and really enjoy the book even more.This book is a true story,the authors sister really did go crazy ,but got helped.This is an excellent book for all ages,my teacher read it and he loved it too.
  
  
• Powerful and Inspiring
  By on 2000-05-05
  "Stop Pretending" is a powerful story, unsparing in its depiction of the grief, pain and sense of helplessness mental illness can cause within a family. Yet the book is inspiring and ultimately life-affirming as the central character struggles to survive the crisis and offers love and support to her hosptialized older sister. The poetry is direct and evocoative, never sentimental or falsely optimisitic. Although the lead character is a teenager, the book is a riveting read for adults (like myself) as well.
  
  
• We couldn't put this book down!
  By A20E5YQS8ETVPH on 2000-06-21
  Stop Pretending is a beautiful, honest, and touching tale of family. Dealing with a life changing illness brings this family closer than they ever imagined. I was moved by the main character's honesty when discussing her sister's illness. I am a teacher and cannot keep this book on the shelf. For reluctant readers, it is a must. The poetry the author uses draws the reader in and won't let go. Read this book. It will change the way you think.
  
  
• Stop Pretending
  By on 2001-11-02
  STOP PRETENDING what happened the summer my big sister went crazy is a good story by poem book by Sonyta Sones. This notification story was writtenb in a format I have never seen before. I think that writing many powms and arranging them into a story took great creativity. Feelingsd were expressed through the poems in a way that really touched me. I understood and felt the happiness of the characters of the book. I think that Sonya Sones must have a strong soul to be able to write so piercingly to the soul.
  
  
• SO VERY POWERFUL!
  By A2IN0BE2VXMXJ9 on 2000-07-15
  Omigosh! Wow, I read this book in about 1 hour! If this would have happened to me I would have cried for days. It really let's you know you should be thankful for what you have and you should love everyone! I cried myself and couldn't put it down you have to read it!
  
  
• A "Must Read" for All
  By on 2000-01-12
  This book is a "must read" for all as mental illness is present in many places. It so deeply gets to the core feelings of loved ones who are affected by mental illness in a family. This book also helps families to feel that they are releasing emotions of fear, anger, frustration, loss and sadness just by reading the passages. It almost has a medicinal feeling of help for these emotions. I greatly admire the author and her sister for the giving spirit of their revelations of mental illness.
  
  
• This book may help you
  By on 2000-03-20
  My mom gave me this book and recommended I read it. I'm 15, and my younger sister has gone through a turmoil of events relating to mental illness and it has been very hard for me. Reading this book was very helpful, as it made me realize I'm not the only one experiencing these things. The poems are very insightful and emotional and make for a wonderful book.
  
  
• Stop Pretending is a "must read" for teens and adults
  By A1BNPSDA711XMZ on 2001-04-19
  Written as a series of short but powerful poems, Stop Pretending is a must read for teenage readers as well as adults. Based on the authors' own family experiences, this masterpiece takes the reader through a gamete of emotions from grief, anger, guilt, loss, fear, resentment, humor to acceptance. Her depictions of personal emotion and the new family dynamics are based on the authors' own personal journal that she kept as a teenager. She credits this writing process as the way in which she stayed sane while her sister was having a nervous breakdown, later diagnosed as manic-depression. She expresses the fears of her friends finding out about her sister and the joy of first love in the middle of such chaos. She writes about feeling as if it is somehow her fault and about how the joy and laughter disappear from the house. "Minus. Last night/sister wasn't there/to help me study for my math test. Father tried to fill in/but he's never been as good at math/as her. This morning/I'm sitting here/taking the test/but the numbers on the page/keep scrambling/in my head/and the only equation/I really understand is:/4-1=0." Finally, after many months there is improvement in her sister and she notices that once again her parents resume normal activities and there is laughter again. "Girl's Night In. Mother's friends/are over tonight/and I'm sitting/at the top of the stairs/listening/to the tinkling/of their voices,/and the gentle flup/of the cards being shuffled,/the muffled jingling/of coins tossed onto the silk tablecloth,/and the best sound of all:/my mother's long lost laugh." Excellent reading for those dealing with a family members mental illness or those just wanting a powerful emotional read.
  
  
• One of the best books I have ever read
  By on 2001-04-24
  I loved the book Stop Pretending When My Big Sister Went Crazy. It talked about a true story and what really happened in a young girls life. Everything in the books is true making you want to keep reading it. The way the little sister deals with her sisters situation is just amazing. Not only does the book talk about true stuff that happened it talks about the girls feelings making you feel like you could actaully be the little sister. Alot of the topics they talk about alot of people could relate to. Stop Pretending was a book that I just couldnt put down.
  
  
• Stop Pretending
  By on 2002-04-27
  Have you ever Pretended to be crazy? Well I read this book called �Stop Pretending� by Sonya Sones, A teenage girl happens to suffer a mental breakdown and land in a mental illness room hunted by voices that surrounds her, but no matter what her family was always with her.

  Not everyone has to go through what cookie went through, she is left behind, nothing will ever be the same. One morning everything changed her older sister got crazy. Cookie felt ashame and fearful about her sister sanity she has the courage to try to get her out.

  This book �Stop Pretending� I really enjoyed it because it wasn�t so long and it was easy to understand. I also enjoyed it because the main character cookie explained every thing so well it makes you be there and like if it was happening to you and you can picture what�s really going on in the book so i recommended and i really enjoyed it and i think that anyone who reads this is going to enjoy it.

  I learned about this book to appreciate what you have in life and people who you care about and people who care about you. This book made me realize to be nice with my sister because who knows what might happen to her in the future or what might happen to me and i won�t be able to say sorry to her for the mistreats that i did to her. And no matter what situation she is I will always be there. In the good times and bad we will always be together.

  I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes poetry and especially those of you out there like me don�t like to read but i liked this book because it was short and it was a great story and it was easy to understand i never got board because once you start to read it you would want to sit there and read all in one sit and see what happens next and you will learn to appreciate what you have in life.
  
  

• A Wonderful Young Adult Book
  By A1F70PT5RZKN26 on 2003-04-17
  Imagine what it would be like if you lost your best friend and your only sister. This is exactly what happened to Cookie when her sister started suffering from mental illness.
  In the book "Stop Pretending," by Sonya Sones, the author describes through poetry, what it is like to have someone so close to her suffer from mental illness. This book discusses Cookie's troubles dealing with her sister's sickness, and coping with people around her, and how they react when they find out about her sister. I really enjoy how the book was written in poetry, it gave a sense of the disconection from the world, felt by Cookie, and it made the reader feel like they were in Cookie's shoes, and it was their sister that "went crazy."
  I would recomend this book to everyone, because it is an easy read that touches the reader with confusion and emotion that they are sure to feel in everyday life.
  
  
• Just okay.
  By A2R1W393RBIJ0I on 2003-06-27
  This book is actually not that bad. There were some flaws, though. First of all, this book is way too short. I finished it in about an hour. I also thought that the problems in the book were solved just a little too easily. Some of the poems are really good, but overall, I would really only recommend this to someone who needed to write a book report ASAP.
  
  
• "Stop Pretending"
  By on 2006-10-04
  This Book "Stop Pretending" was excellent. It was about this young girl who has a older sister that is in the mental hospital. The older sister is in the hospital because she is crazy. She loved hr sister so much she always went to visit her and talked to her about her life, friends, love life..everything. Then when she tells her friends about her they turn her back on her and pick on her because her sister is crazy. This book was also terribly sad because of her sisters illness and how she was so depressed about it.The book was written in free verse poetry but it happened to not ryhme. Everyone who needs a book to read and enjoy I would recomend this.
  
  
• Thank you, thank you, a million thank yous, Ms. Sones!
  By on 2000-05-18
  Finally, a book that looks at the implications of mental illness as viewed by the sibling of one who is ill. As a parent of a mentally ill child, I am so thankful that Sonya Sones wrote this. Whether your family has been touched by a mental illness or not, you will find this book to be a incredible work of literature. The prose poem writing style and the heartfelt emotion of this story will guarantee that this book will occupy a place in your memory, and your heart, for a very long time!
  
  
• worthwhile
  By A1PV8D0FY93M5Q on 2000-03-10
  I bought this book for my 14.5 year old daughter as a Christmas present. When I received it I quickly scanned it and thought it might be depressing so I put it away and decided not to give it to her. I intended to mail it back, but I forgot. Recently she told me that she found it in the guest room closet and started reading it, as she had nothing else to read. Low and behold, she loved it. I realized that I ought to read it myself in case she had questions and to see if it was, indeed, depressing. While I don't think it the best book I've read recently, I would say that it is certainly worth reading. It's well written and steady and it surprises me that it is the author's first book. I'm not so sure that it would be a good book for just any adolesent, however.
  
  
• Stop Preteding
  By A1GYWXSK8N4XAQ on 2001-01-23
  "Stop Pretending" is truly an amazing story, based on the authers own view of her life when she was 13.With her sister in a mental house, her parents always fighting, having only one friend since she shared about her sister and trying to keep a boyfriend without scaring him off life wasn't what you call easy.To her, her life was a nightmare.
  
  
• Powerful and Riveting
  By A2O4820X0UIJCW on 2001-04-28
  I started reading this book a while ago, and as soon as I started, I had immidiate regrets. I thought that the book was awful and the poetry was thoughtless. Then, it started getting deeper as the author life turned worse and worse.

  By the end, it was completely powerful. It held a trap of emotions that could not be escaped. since my reading it, I have posted it on my website as a book to read and one poem on my favorite and most powerful quotations.

  I cannot really compare Sones' book and style to anything really. It all poetry that tells a story and appears in some-what chronological order, but not completely.

  I consider this a must buy because its a book that you can pick up, open a page, start reading where you want and finish where you want. I really enjoyed it and I think that others will, too.
  
  

• I found this book by accident...
  By A1LVD1Z6IDM5H7 on 2001-06-20
  I picked up this book by accident, just looking for something to match Lisa, Bright and Dark, by John Neufeld, and now I love them both, even though they are quite different (Lisa, Bright and Dark was written in the sixties, and is in chapters instead of poems). They are both about what happens when people go crazy. The poetry was very moving and real, and you should read it immediately- even if you don't like poetry. Stop Pretending is a beautiful book, and it is wonderful that Sonya Sones had the support of her sister (and teacher, Myra Cohn Livingston) and the courage to write this book. Read it!
  
  
• A Quick Read
  By A2LM2FRLG7N5U2 on 2001-10-19
  Stop Pretending is a collection of poems about a girl dealing with life when her older sister suffers from Manic Depression. Through the collection of the poems, we not only see the reactions the younger sister has at home, amongst friends, and at school, we see the reactions of her family, and how the older sister's treatment is progressing.

  The book is well written with a fast flowing pace... though some of the poems do not read like poetry. Some of the poems are more realistically sentences put in poetry format. However, there a number of poems that arre beautifully poignant, such as one that describes the older sister being carried away during a family visitation after throwing a Monopoly board into the air. The book is thought-provoking without being preachy. It is also an extremely quick read. Silently, I read it in less than forty minutes... and if, like me, you like to read poetry aloud... it can be read in less than two hours. All in all, Stop Pretending is a very pleasing read.

  Crazy James
  
  

• it draws you in
  By on 2001-10-31
  I was first attracted to this book because of its title. While waiting for my sister in the bookstore, I started reading the first few poems. I was immediately drawn into it and decided to buy it then and there.

  The poems don't try to hide some deep meaning behind all the words, though they do leave the read something to think about. Everything just seems so _honest_. The first symptoms of the author's sister's "craziness," her loneliness and attempt to hide her sister's illness, the boy, the boyfriend, the road to healing.

  I fell in love with the book right away. It's the only book of poetry I haven't been able to put down. I highly recommend it.
  
  

• Brilliant story.
  By A10VOEBL5S337W on 2001-11-15
  After reading Robert Cormier's "Frenchtown Summer", I decided I ought to try to find more books written in free verse. "Stop Pretending" is every bit as good as "Frenchtown Summer" was. I could easily see the narrarator's mortification, sadness, and fear. I had a brother who was committed to a psychiatric ward when I was ten, but it was a somewhat different experience as (a) he was only there for a day (b) he was not crazy (c) we have always despised each other anyway, unlike Cookie and her sister. I think the book was much better told in poetry than it would have been in ordinary prose. My favorite poem was "No Matter What". All in all, a brilliant work and I'm itching to get my hands on Sonya Sones's other book.
  
  
• Stop Pretending.. A good book..
  By on 2002-03-07
  Stop Pretending

  The novel I read is called Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones. This book is good about explaining how Cookie feels about her sister being crazy.
  Cookie's friend, Molly, isn't a good character because she is mean to Cookie when she finds out that Cookie's sister is crazy and in a mental hospital. I liked Sarah because she stuck by Cookie's side even though her sister was crazy. The theme is don't judge a book by its cover. This means that when looked at Cookie know her sister was crazy doesn't mean she crazy even though she acts like it sometimes. I liked most of the book, but if I had to choose just one part it would be when she gets her camera and takes pictures of her sister through her eyes. The part I didn't like is when Molly passed a note that made fun of Cookie. I'm very satisfied with the end of the book, but I'm not going to tell you if it sad or happy.
  The author was a very unique way of writing her stories because she has many poems put together to make a story. The way that she writes keeps you interested. The vocabulary is pretty easy. I suggest this book for girls 10 to 13 because it is about a girl and it is difficult to see through her eyes if you are younger than ten. I strongly recommended this book because it is based on a true story, which makes you think of other people. I give this book a ...[five] stars.
  
  

• A must read.
  By A2SGP43IZ01QVZ on 2002-06-04
  I got this book at my schools bookfair, It looked intresting so I baught it. When I started to read it, I couldn't stop! It tells of how a girls big sister goes crazy, and how she has to deal with it. It tells of sometimes she feels like she is the crazy one, and how she deals with friends and just how her life got messed up. This is a must read!
  
  

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