Sones, Sonya. Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Print.
Annotation: Something dreadful has happened to her family--to her sister. In a personal endeavor to understand her big sister's mental breakdown, this younger sister eloquently speaks her heart through words that rhythmically and concisely echo her transition from loud disbelief to quiet acceptance.
Justification for Nomination: Sones' personal account of the mental breakdown of her older sister is a story that the young reader will long remember. Beginning with brief reflections of a normal, happy life and delving immediately and abruptly into the account of the breakdown, the reader is carried along with the tide of emotions the younger sister feels as she tries to make sense of what has and is occurring around her. And her sister is not the only one who has changed. Now her parents are changing, too. Although their situations may be different, this is a story with which many young adults will connect. Often, tragedy occurs in a home, and the family unit seemingly begins to disintegrate as those affected struggle to cope. Sones' use of the verse novel to tell such a tragic story supplies the the young reader with plain and simple language spoken from the heart of one of their own. Her verse-like prose affords the reader the time needed to process such a sad account. The acceptance of the sister's condition and the reconnection of the family members offers hope that love can endure hardship.
I definitely nominate this book as a work of literary excellence. Its style is fresh and modern, yet old and familiar. Its story could be anyone's. The story and the format capture the attention of the young reader making the book hard to put down and leaving an impression that will last a lifetime.
Genre: Poetry/Verse, Realistic/Problem
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