Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Title: Crank
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: June 20, 2008 (originally 2004)

Format: eBook
Price: $10.99
Page Count: 544 pages
ISBN-13: 9781439106518

Reading Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 14+)
Interest Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 14+)

Annotation: When Kristina visits her estranged father over the summer, she is introduced to drugs by her father's neighbor, a boy who happens to catch her attention and return her affection.

Plot and Content Summary: Kristina Snow is struggling to figure out who she is and who she wants to be. When she decides to spend part of her summer visiting her dad, she gets caught up with a boy, Adam, who is no good for her. Slowly, her life changes as she gets addicted to crystal meth (also known as "crank") and spends all her time with Adam, someone she thinks she loves. Crank changes the way she lives and now, all she thinks about is when she'll get her next hit.

Evaluation: Although the writing was nothing spectacular, aside from the poetic elements, the way Hopkins tackles the painful struggles of drug addiction is powerful. We get into Kristina's head and learn exactly what she is feeling when she is high and when she is not. With the words she chooses to use, we clearly see her fighting with herself in her mind when she is desperate for more. She knows it is bad, but she cannot help it. Anyone who reads Crank will gain some level of empathy for Kristina and drug addicts in general. It is a common misconception that those who use drugs lack moral principles, lack willpower, and can stop just by choosing to, and we see here how difficult is.

 Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Even though Crank is a fictional story, Hopkins wrote it loosely based on her own daughter's story. In the author's note, Hopkins wrote that "the monster," which Kristina refers to methamphetamine as, DID touch her life and her family's life too. Nothing in this story is impossible, because a lot of it reflected what her own daughter went through. With that said, this could be the case for many other families as well. This book could be used by both parents and teens—parents can see things from the perspective of their teens who may be struggling and gain courage to open up a conversation, and teens who find themselves addicted to drugs can find comfort in the fact that they are not alone.

 Issues Present: Due to the topic of drug and substance abuse/addiction, it is very likely that this book brings about controversy. Many adults and parents do not want to expose teens to these topics, thinking that it will give them ideas to experiment. However, we have to stop treating teens like children. Most likely, they are already surrounded by drugs—whether it is through their friends, the media, etc. These stories can help prepare them for the challenges that they are currently facing or will inevitably face in the future. Teens can learn lessons from people like Kristina, by stepping into the life of someone else. This could help them to make decisions or build an awareness to the consequences.

Book Talk Ideas: What stood out to me in Crank were Kristina's poetic descriptions of being high. She uses the metaphors of riding a roller coaster (around p. 103) and flying (around p. 172), which adds another layer to her story. It would be interesting to look at these and dig into why she feels this way and what she means by it. Another thing is her alter ego, Bree. When she says things like, "Kristina is who they made me, Bree is who I choose to be" (around p. 172), what does she mean?

 Genre/Subgenres: First person narratives; Novels in verse; Realistic fiction

Readalikes: Smack by Melvin Burgess, Dancing with Molly by Lena Horowitz, Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson, Heroine by Mindy McGinnis

References
on

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)