A TRAGIC TALE

CRANK

By Ellen Hopkins
2004
537 Pages

From the Back Cover:
Kristina is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. Then she meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ride turns into a struggle for her mind, her soul-her life.

My Thoughts:
Intense, Dark and Disturbing.

This is the story of a girl(based on the author's daughter) that once had everything in the world going for her. She was smart, talented and beautiful. During a summer visit to her dad she tries crank-which is referred to as the monster-what a fitting title. The monster takes over her life. Kristina develops an alter ego named Bree who justifies all the wrongs Kristina starts to do in her need to feed the monster.
Excerpt from page 381
She forgot to mention
a couple of
rather important things:
Like how, if you exercised
(riding my bike for instance),
your lungs fought to hold air.
I huffed and puffed
all the way home.
Like how, when you came down
(I had to eventually),
your head screamed with pain
and your body broke out
in panicky sweat.
Like how your little brother's teasing
(irritating at the best of time),
would set you way off,
make you jump
off the deep end.
What we witness page after page is Kristina's decent into addiction. We watch her descent into hell. This is the first book that I have read by Ellen Hopkins. It is written in prose which was so perfect for Kristina's story. It's raw honesty grabbed me from the start and wouldn't let go.
It won't be the last Ellen Hopkins book that I read.
I borrowed this book for my public library's Inter Library Loan system. I hope that our library will consider purchasing a copy in the future. It's an important tale that teens and adults should read. I would recommend this book for readers 14 and up for language, violence and sex.