Crank

I was introduced to Ellen Hopkins when the blogosphere was enraged over a teen lit festival uninviting her from the event. I wrote about that particular situation here. I became immediately interested in what she had to say because banning books is something that seriously pisses me off. Having no prior experience with Hopkins’ work, I wasn’t prepared for the poem-esque writing. I must say though, it worked so well and brought such depth and emotion to this story. She is a fantastic writer, and so very different than others in the YA genre.

This story isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s about a straight-laced teenage girl name Kristina who has never stepped a toe out of line. She visits her not-so-heavy-on-the-morals father who is show more pretty much a stranger to Kristina. Her father lives in the same building as Adam. And Adam is hot. Kristina has never approached boys before and is nervous as hell...

Enter Bree, Kristina’s alter-ego. Bree takes over, Kristina is gone. Adam likes Bree and quickly introduces her to his friend, the monster. AKA, Crank. Kristina’s life quickly spirals out of control as she enjoys her roller coaster ride with the monster. Unfortunately, her dad doesn’t help steer Kristina back to the shallow end of Hell, as shown by the scene where he enjoys crank with his daughter and friends in the back of the bowling alley where he works. Nice role model.

Kristina enters into a reality that no parent wishes upon their child. A reality full of divorce, addiction, rape, suicide, teen pregnancy. All the things we wish to shield our children from. However, shielding them from reality only hinders their ability to deal with it, should they find themselves in Kristina’s situation. You definitely need to gauge the maturity level of your child before you allow them to dive into Hopkins’ mind, but I think allowing them to see this harsh reality through a book – rather than personally experiencing it – is a much better route to take. I can’t imagine an adolescent putting this book down and looking forward to a date with the monster…

As someone with a background involving ‘party drugs', as I like to call them, this book was very personal and is so very important. While I never shook hands with the monster or any of his seriously sadistic friends, I have friends who did. One of my good friends in my Social Work cohort is a recovering meth addict. He was able to escape his relationship with the monster. Not everyone is so lucky.

I’ve read in various places that this story is loosely based on Hopkins’ daughter’s struggle with crank. That makes this book personal, and it shows. show less

I have to confess Crank by Ellen Hopkins sat in my to-be-read pile for quite a long time, several years, in fact. I'm not sure why. There was something about the book that intimidated me before I ever opened it. Maybe I resisted the idea of a book about drug addiction written in a series of poems. Once I started it though, I was drawn in, seduced, addicted... I wanted more. I read more than I intended at each sitting. I wanted to know more. I felt a connection to the characters in the story. I felt the allure and the self-disgust. I cried at the consequences the addiction brought to those involved. I cheered in the hopeful moments and bemoaned the lost moments. Hopkins pushes buttons with effective character building and story telling show more that feels at once voyeuristic, enlightening, poetic, real, and addictive. show less

I remember seeing Crank in the library most of my young adult life, but never gravitating towards it. It never seemed my style. My style being, of course, historical fiction. I'm talking regency era love stories that always end happily. This story about the monsters inside of Kristina, called Bree and meth, was never a happy one, not even at the end when Kristina takes some autonomy and attempts to turn her life around for the sake of her unborn child. I didn't like Kristina, and really didn't like Bree. Most of all, I hated the monster, which ravaged everyone in its wake. However, the beauty in the verse I read made it physically impossible to stop reading until the very end. I could not put this book down. I had to know what the show more monster and Bree would get Kristina into next. This work was so well done, and so heartbreaking, because I know addiction happens to people all the time, all over the world. I enjoy watching Intervention, which is a reality TV show where families have surprise "interventions" for their loved ones who are addicts. This story reminded me a lot of that show. I can see why this book was challenged and banned. It's a lot to take in, and a lot of what is written basically glorifies drug abuse. I also think reading something like this as a teenager would expose teens to a very real story of how much drug addiction can ruin their lives and their families lives. It is a must read.

Genre: Poetry
Special Note: Challenged Book show less

I read this book when I was 22. I've never been addicted to drugs or had any thoughts about experimenting, however I still felt the need to read it. The way the words are structured on the page was just as important as the content itself. Addiction is real, and difficult to break. When my brother became addicted to crystal meth and overdosed, strange how this book crossed my mind. I felt that I saw his dilemma and realized his struggle better than most of those in my family. While parents may be afraid to share this information with their children, the temptation and risks are out there. This book would be a great guide to start the conversation because it's more than "Just Say No."

After her introduction to what she calls "the monster," good girl Kristina's (or Bree) life begins to spiral out of control as she sinks further into addiction.

Crank is the story of a high school girl, named Kristina, and what can happen when one loses control. After visiting her father in Florida and being introduced to crystal meth, Kristina begins to crave the drug and its effects. What follows is a terrifying, heartbreaking look at what addiction can do to a person and a family.

Hopkins' use of verse to tell Kristina's story is tough at first, but the short, sometimes choppy, other times long and fluid lines lend themselves to the thoughts of a girl spinning out of control. Crank is terrifying. It doesn't pull punches. It doesn't show more sugar coat. The result is a beautiful, incredibly sad, eye-opening story about the dangers of drug use. Even though some teens may not be able to relate to Kristina's particular struggle, the frank portrayal of drug abuse will certainly stick with them. Because of the graphic nature of the situations she finds herself in, and because of the subject matter itself, this book is best suited to it's target audience, High Schools. It should be found in any high school, especially those with drug abuse programs such as D.A.R.E, and in the teen areas of public libraries. show less

I gave this book a 5Q because its quality was striking. The character of the writing was so personal and descriptive that I connected with the narrative of Crank better than I ever have any book of verse. I have never read a collection of poems that became a page turner for me but Crank changed that. I gave the popularity a slightly lower score of four because I think that the book may be over the heads of some younger teens, and also because teens are more resistant to read novels in verse as a general rue. Crank was a stunning portrait of the descent of a girl into a quick and dirty addiction, but what makes it so gripping is the authorship by Hopkins. As a woman who lost her daughter to meth, the parental neglect of Kristina show more represents a palpable guilt that Hopkins must feel for not getting her daughter the help she needed in a timely fashion. Each page is riddled with what might have been if she had not neglected her baby and I found myself consistently angry with her throughout the novel. Crank is a gripping, tangible horror-story that reverses the traditional coming of age plot line into the story of an un-coming of identity. show less

Ellen Hopkins wrote this rambling, first person, free verse ode to Methamphetamine, loosely based on her daughter’s struggles with addiction, and for a person who’s (probably) never done it herself, from a person who’s (definitely) never done it, I think she’s spot on with her descriptions. The looseness, choppiness, stream-of-conciousness style mirrors what it must feel like to be high, and to come down, and to be a teenager in those situations. Hopkins’ narrator, Kristina, struggles with her choices, invents for herself an alter-ego; Bree absolves Kristina of her shame and spurs her towards more, always chasing the monster. Kristina’s life falls completely apart in the space of months, and that’s exactly accurate in show more terms of what Meth (a.k.a Crank) will do to a person. Having worked in the field of chemical dependency, but never having gone far enough to try Meth itself, I can see the value of this tale. Its genuineness and realism will draw a reader in, and as he or she is coasting through the wonder of it, bring him or her down just as hard. Users will see themselves in this. Whether it’s enough to help someone make a different, better, choice is debatable, but it’s worth reading no matter who you are or what substances you’ve tried. show less