Stop Pretending

Stop Pretending by: Sonya Sones

Publisher: HarperTeen

Brief Summary:

This book of poems is written from the perspective of a girl whose sister goes crazy because she had a bipolar episode. The girl goes through how this has affected her emotions and her family's as well. She talks about how her parents have changed from being happy to feeling numb to the world. She wishes throughout most of the story that her sister will return to normal and will remember how good life was before the incident. The reader comes to a point where the girl falls in love with a boy and is afraid to tell him about her sister, but when he finds out, he is okay with it. This gives a sense a relief to the girl. Eventually the sister gets better and the whole family returns to being normal again.

Personal Review:

I really liked this book of poems because I could relate to it. I am bipolar myself and I have had a couple of episodes where I literally went crazy. This helped me to put into perspective what a witness to seeing someone going bonkers can do to them. My own family struggled during the times when I had an episode, but now that it is taken care of, we are all very happy ourselves. What I thought was interesting is that the bipolar sister ended up going into Library Science as a master's degree, and that is also what I am pursuing.

Warnings: Those who are sensitive to the topic of mental illness, will find this hard to read.

Other books by this author:

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know

What My Mother Doesn't Know

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Publisher: Amulet Books

Brief Summary:

Greg Heffley, the main character of the story, goes through and tells about his life as a middle schooler through entries in his diary. His diary consists of events which occur in his life such as what his big brother, Rodrick does to tease him, what he does for fun with his friend, Rowley. Greg is not a popular kid at his school and he and Rowley are constantly being picked on by larger, but dumb bullies. Greg finds ways to try to gain popularity by wanting to gain more muscle through lifting weights and to make it into the school's student council. A hilarious part of the story revolves around an old piece of cheese that is outside of the school and that if someone touches it, they get 'the cheese touch'. Those who have touched it is officially forbidden to touch someone else. At the end, Rowley is forced to eat the cheese, but Greg covers for him saying that he touched the cheese and threw it away, but now he was infected with 'the cheese touch'.

Personal Review:

This was a hilarious piece of literature. I enjoyed reading about Greg and his misadventures as a middle schooler. The complexities of tween life is present in this story, from feeling awkward at that age to how one is viewed as either being popular or not. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a book that will allow someone to reminisce about how it was like to be in middle school.

Warnings: Beware of the 'cheese touch' and boogers!

More books by the author:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days