num_pages: 160
description: It happened to Sonya Sones. Her brilliant sequence of poems describes the night her 19-year-old sister suddenly turns into a screaming stranger and is taken away to a psychiatric hospital. She portrays a loving family torn apart by grief; the ordeal of hospital visits; the anxiety of a 13-year-old that her friends will reject her if they find out, or that this could happen to her too; and finally her acceptance that her life has been forever changed. This stunning book evokes an ordinary teenager's shattered world with powerful intensity. Deeply human and affecting, and very readable, this is an inspirational book that has already won many awards and accolades in the US, and speaks to adults just as much as teenagers.
language: English
title: Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy
titlecomplete: Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy
genres: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Poetry, Mental Illness, Teen, Psychology, Family, Fiction, Mental Health, Contemporary
ratings_count: 5011
awards: awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Rhode Island Teen Book Award, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Claudia Lewis Award
publisher: Orion Children's Books