Module 14: Crank by Ellen Hopkins (SLIS 5420 review)

Summary: Kristina lives with her mother and stepfather in Reno and has a fairly normal life. She visits her deadbeat father in New Mexico for a few weeks one summer, and her life takes a drastic turn when she tries meth for the first time. Kristina calls meth “the monster.” She becomes addicted quickly, and it sends her life into a downward spiral. The drugs bring out an alter ego she calls Bree. Bree is brash and reckless and not at all like Kristina. Kristina resorts to drastic measures to get access to drugs to satisfy her addiction. When Kristina is raped and becomes pregnant, she has to make some life-changing decisions.

Citation: Hopkins, E. (2004). Crank. New York: Simon Pulse.

Impression: Crank is one of those books that sucks you in and doesn’t let go. Kristina’s story is fascinating and heartbreaking. (When you think about the fact that it is based on Hopkins’s daughter, it makes it even more emotional.) Hopkins is an extremely descriptive writer, and she uses the free verse format to full advantage. She does interesting things with formatting. There are several poems where Hopkins separates out certain words on the page to create an entirely new poem. Some good examples of this include “Why Was Everyone,” (p. 286) and “I Would Celebrate Several Ways,” (pg 418). She also uses some concrete poetry, which creates visual interest. The subject matters make it suitable for older teens, and I think anyone who has seen someone struggle with drug addiction (or struggled with addiction themselves) would really connect with this story.

Review:
Kirkus:
Hypnotic and jagged free verse wrenchingly chronicles 16-year-old Kristina's addiction to crank. Kristina's dating alter ego, Bree, emerges when "gentle clouds of monotony" smother Kristina's life--when there's nothing to do and no one to connect with. Visiting her neglectful and draggy father for the first time in years, Bree meets a boy and snorts crank (methamphetamine). The rash is irresistible and she's hooked, despite a horrible crank-related incident with the boy's other girlfriend. Back home with her mother, Kristina feels both ignored and smothered, needing more drags and more boys--in that order. One boy is wonderful and one's a rapist, but it's crank holding Bree up at this point. The author's sharp verse plays with spacing on the page, sometimes providing two alternate readings. In a too brief wrap-up, Kristina keeps her baby (a product of rape) while Hopkins--realistically--offers no real conclusion. Powerful and unsettling.

(2004, October). [Review of the book Crank, by E. Hopkins]. Kirkus Reviews, 72(19), 961. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/

Use in library: Libraries could use Crank as part of a Poetry Slam for teens. Teens could get up in front of the crowd and read their favorite poems. The librarian could set out Crank and other poetry books for the teens to look through, and they could also encourage the teens to read their own original work.

Want to see my book trailer for Crank? Click here.