Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy

Continuously in print for nearly two decades, this groundbreaking and profoundly moving story told in verse, from award-winning author Sonya Sones, has been repackaged with a striking new cover and bonus content.

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.

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.

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Published Jan 23, 2001

176 pages

Average rating: 8.67

3 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

BrandeeD
Dec 10, 2025
10/10 stars
Phenomenal!! I have always been a fan of Sonya Sones and this one was amazing! A true story about her sister that will not only give readers an insight into mental illness but also show one way of coping through hard times.

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