Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Crank by Ellen Hopkins is based on a sixteen year old girl named Kristina, who ends up going down the wrong path during a vacation to visit her father. In this writing the theme is loud and clear for the reader; the horror and risks of illegal drugs, what the “monster” can do to ones life, and how the drugs can set you for downward spiral. Kristina a 16 year old leaves home in Nevada to visit her absent father in Albuquerque for three weeks. Kristina soon meets a boy named Adam and starts a relationship with him, and soon believes she is in love. Not wanting to appear like the shy social girl she is, she creates an alter ago named Bree. Bree is the bad influence and makes horrible decisions affecting her Kristina’s life. Soon in their relationship, Adam introduces her to the drug Crank also called the monster throughout the book. Her addiction grows and grows well her alter ego takes over. “Life was good before I met the monster” said Kristina Snow. When her vacation is over she loses her old friends cannot keep up with her school work.

Meanwhile to compensate with her loss of drugs she begins to date two boys both with different personalities. Bree only dated Brenden because he supplied her with meth. One night Brenden convinced Bree to do a line of cocaine and ends up raping her. Chase is accepting of Bree and loves her for who she is they soon fall in love, even though he feeds her habit. Kristina decides she doesn’t want to ruin Chase’s future of going to college, declining his hand in marriage. She than realizes that the monster is her and her addiction will never leave. “I hate this feeling. Like I’m here, but I’m not. Like someone cares. But they don’t. Like I belong somewhere else, anywhere but here, and escape lies” said Kristina Snow. Kristina is a girl everyone can relate to, peer pressure is everywhere throughout your high school education.

Today more teens die from prescription drugs the heroin/ cocaine combined. In today’s world it is extremely easy for one to obtain drugs or know where they are sold. 60% of teens said they knew that drugs were kept in their school and knew where to find them. Ellen Hopkins is a passionate writer and has various books dealing with drug addiction/ alcohol consumption. She talks about real people’s lives and their struggle and doesn’t sugar coat it to make it seem appealing to the eye. Hopkins style of writing for you the reader can get
lost into her words and feel the shakes of the recovering addict, the high from the drugs, and the low of being so far from okay. In today’s world young adult are tempted with drugs. Being informed on what happens when the high wares of, can saves one’s life and also keeps for an interesting piece of literature.