Stop Pretending, What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (Verse Novel)

Sones, Sonya. Stop Pretending, What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy. New York: Harper Tempest, 2001. ISBN 0064462188

Mental illness is often a taboo topic in American society. Many families are affected by it, but few are willing to openly discuss how it has impacted their lives. In Stop Pretending, What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy, Sones has written a novel in verse that is unabashedly honest about the pain and love within a family that deals with a mental illness. Based on Sones’ own experiences, the poems express the complex, sometimes conflicting array of emotions felt by the character Cookie as she watches her big sister lose touch with reality.

Sones uses free verse poems about a variety of experiences in Cookie’s life, ranging from the night her sister was first institutionalized, to explaining her bedroom layout, as well as when she received her first camera.  These mini revelations ultimately add up, creating an intimacy between the reader and narrator that allows for the powerful discovery of universal emotions.

Things Would Be Different
If I
had a dog, I
could hold him when I felt
like this, and he’d lick the salt off
my cheeks.

Presentation of Poem: Tell the class that the word if is a powerful word. For some the word if is haunting and scary, but for others it is a fun thinking vacation. Ask students what this statement might mean and create a chart.

Lesson: Discuss how authors and poets of fiction use their imagination as a tool. Reference Shel Silverstein and J.K. Rowling as familiar writers who stretched their imaginations to come up with creative and new ideas.
Some of the most creative and interesting writers ask themselves “what if” on a regular basis to come up with new thoughts. Practice answering “what if” questions. Have students call out questions and other students calling out possible outcomes. For example, one students make ask, “What if it rained lemonade?” and another student might respond, “We’d all walk around with our umbrellas upside down to catch it all!”

Extension Activity: Students will be given an assignment based on the premiss of “Things Would Be Different.” Students can chose between writing an original poem, song, rap, essay, or art piece that completes the idea, if I had a __________.