Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Young Adult Realistic/Life Issues Novel dealing with drug use
ISBN: 978-0-689-86519-0
537 pp.
Suitable for 16+

Readers Annotation: Kristina is the perfect daughter that never gets into any trouble until she meets her monster, crank.

Plot Summary: Kristina is a very smart and intelligent high school junior. She never gets into any trouble and gets along with her mother and siblings. But when her father, whom she hasn't seen in many years, convinces her to stay with him for a few weeks in the summer, all hell breaks loose. Her dad is a meth addict and soon she becomes one too. Kristina likes it so much that an alter-ego appears, Bree. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina, a trouble-maker and up to no good. The monster, meth, takes over her body and mind and soon Kristina starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. When she arrives back at her mother's, she is definitely messed up and everyone knows it, though they are hesitant to confront her. She gets into fights with her mom, she gets raped by her dealer, she makes friends with meth-users, and her health starts to fail, among other things. Finally, her family wants to help but she doesn't want any part of it because the temptation is all around her wherever she looks.

Critical Evaluation: Hopkins does a great job writing poetry in the form of verse that shows the story instead of tells it. Even how the words are presented on each page represent that feelings that Kristina is going through. They tangle, spread apart, line up, and cause confusing patters. They represent the loneliness, pain, confusion, and a false happiness that Kristina is facing, right on these pages. The two sides of Kristina become present throughout that does a good job of representing the monster. There's almost a romantic yearning for the monster as the anticipation is better than the actual deed. That she's going to disappear from real life and become elevated is worth risking everything for. Another interesting trait is that all the characters have flaws but try and hide it with their outer shell; there are skeletons in each character's closets and there is not one normal character in the book. Though the story is cliche, it does show the risk-taking side that all teenagers eventually take; however those things that they yearn for and do is what shapes their future.

Author: Ellen Hopkins was born in 1955 and has published several best-selling novels aimed towards young adults. While Hopkins originally wrote non-fiction children's books, she has a daughter addicted to crystal-meth. This influenced her to write Crank and many other novels that deal with drug addiction among teens. These include the sequels to Crank, Glass and Fallout. She is currently working on more novels in the same vein such as Smoke.

Hopkins herself, has an interesting homelife. She was adopted by a couple when they were 72 and 42, respectively. She studied journalism at the University of Santa Barbara. After a failed marriage, she married John Hopkins, whom they have three children together. She also decided to find her biological mother just recently, who was a writer and a poet, and Hopkins says that's where her writing talent originates from.

Booktalking Ideas:
1) Drug Use
2) Rape
3) Sex
4) Pregnancy
5) Dysfunctional Family Life
6) Confusion

Challenge Issues: Due to the detailed depictions of rape and drug use, this novel has some challenge issues.

A librarian should state that the ALA mission is "to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all," which is embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association's basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. Librarians must act as an extension, making sure that they educate the general public, and themselves, about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.

Why Included: I heard about the book briefly but always saw this book circulating at the library I worked at. Once again, I used this project as an excuse to read what this book was about. Quite the downer.