Crank Book Review

10. Crank by Ellen Hopkins Book Review

Type: Website Review

Title: Crank 

Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN: 978-1442471818
Year: 2013
Pages: 576 pages
Ages: 15 and up

Reader's Annotation: There is only one thing in life, and that's crystal meth, known as CRANK.

BookTalk Ideas: Idea about how drugs can take over someone's life and never let go.

Summary: Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina -- she's fearless. Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul -- her life. (Amazon)

Critical Evaluation: Crank is a fast paced story about how drugs can mess up and consume a person's life. In this case, it is the drug choice of crystal meth.              

Challenge Issues:

• Drugs and Violence
• References to sexual behaviors

Challenge Defense Ideas: 

• Be familiar with the themes in the material and how they relate to young adults today.
• Stay calm and remember to not be personally offended by their comments or concerns.
• Libraries provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues.  Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
• Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
• LISTEN to what they have to say and reiterate our freedom to read and be without censorship.
• All material for young adults are under the review of the branch manager and even further up, the Library Director and even City Council members.

Author: Hopkins has written several verse novels exposing teenage struggles such as drug addiction, mental illness,and prostitution, including Crank, Burned, Impulse, Identical, Glass, Tricks, Tilt, and Fallout. Glass is the sequel to Crank, and Fallout, the third and final book in the series, was released on September 14, 2010. Perfect was released on September 13, 2011, and is a companion novel to Impulse. Ellen Hopkins's most recent book, Tilt, was released September 11, 2012, and is a companion from the point of view of the teens mentioned in Triangles. Hopkins explained she feels they needed their own story after the release of Triangles. Hopkins also plans on releasing a sequel to Burned, Smoke, in 2013 (Wikipedia)