Cover of Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy

by Sonya Sones · 1999

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When her beloved older sister is hospitalized after a sudden mental breakdown, Cookie is left behind to cope with a family torn apart by grief, friends who shun her, and her fear that she, too, might one day lose her mind.

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Based on award-winning author Sonya Sones's own true story, this novel explores the chilling landscape of mental illness, revealing glimmers of beauty and of hope along the way. Told in a succession of short and powerful poems, it takes us deep into the cyclone of the narrator's emotions: despair, anger, guilt, resentment, and ultimately, acceptance.

Genre
literary fictionliterary fictionMore like thisLess of thiscoming of agecoming of ageMore like thisLess of this
Themes
mental healthmental healthMore like thisLess of thisdisabilitydisabilityMore like thisLess of thisfamilyfamilyMore like thisLess of thisillnessillnessMore like thisLess of thissiblingssiblingsMore like thisLess of this
Setting
1990s1990sMore like thisLess of thishigh schoolhigh schoolMore like thisLess of this
Subject
psychologypsychologyMore like thisLess of thisbiographybiographyMore like thisLess of this
Audience
young adultchildrensmiddle gradeadult
Length
short · 145 pages
Form
poetrypoetryMore like thisLess of this

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Liked Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy? Here’s where I’d start.

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