Crank [Paperback]

Ellen Hopkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2004

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ellen Hopkins's semi-autobiographical verse novel, Crank, reads like a Go Ask Alice for the 21st century. In it, she chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank. Soon, her grades plummet, her relationships with family and friends deteriorate, and she needs more and more of the monster just to get through the day. Kristina hits her lowest point when she is raped by one of her drug dealers and becomes pregnant as a result. Her decision to keep the baby slows her drug use, but doesn't stop it, and the author leaves the reader with the distinct impression that Kristina/Bree may never be free from her addiction. In the author's note, Hopkins warns "nothing in this story is impossible," but when Kristina's controlled, high-powered mother allows her teenage daughter to visit her biological father (a nearly homeless known drug user), the story feels unbelievable. Still, the descriptions of crystal meth use and its consequences are powerful, and will horrify and transfix older teenage readers, just as Alice did over 20 years ago. --Jennifer Hubert

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–Seventeen-year-old Kristina Snow is introduced to crank on a trip to visit her wayward father. Caught up in a fast-paced, frightening, and unfamiliar world, she morphs into "Bree" after she "shakes hands with the monster." Her fearless, risk-taking alter ego grows stronger, "convincing me to be someone I never dreamed I'd want to be." When Kristina goes home, things don't return to normal. Although she tries to reconnect with her mother and her former life as a good student, her drug use soon takes over, leaving her "starving for speed" and for boys who will soon leave her scarred and pregnant. Hopkins writes in free-verse poems that paint painfully sharp images of Kristina/Bree and those around her, detailing how powerful the "monster" can be. The poems are masterpieces of word, shape, and pacing, compelling readers on to the next chapter in Kristina's spiraling world. This is a topical page-turner and a stunning portrayal of a teen's loss of direction and realistically uncertain future.–Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI
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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; Original edition (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689865198
• ISBN-13: 978-0689865190
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (202 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was adopted at birth and raised by a great, loving older couple. I grew up in Palm Springs CA, although we summered in Napa and Lake Tahoe, to avoid those 120 degree summers. After my adopted parents died, I did find my birth mother, who lives in Michigan with my half sister.

I studied journalism in college, but left school to marry, raise kids and start my own business--a video store, before the mega-chains were out there. After a divorce, I met my current husband and we moved to Tahoe to become ski bums and otherwise try to find our dreams. At that time, I went to work for a small alternative press, writing stories and eventually editing.

When we moved down the mountain to the Reno area, I started writing nonfiction books, many of which you can see here. The rest are viewable on my personal website. I also continued to freelance articles for newspapers and magazines.

All that has changed, with the publication of my novel, CRANK, which has led to a valued career writing YA novels in verse, all of which explore the more difficult situations young adults often find themselves in. Will I ever write one in prose? No doubt! But, for the moment, writing novels in verse fulfills two needs: writing poetry and writing fiction. The combination is so interesting!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars intense, October 30, 2005

By 

Cathe Fein Olson "Avid reader and writer" (curled up with a book) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Crank (Paperback)

This story of a teenager who becomes addicted to crank is a book that parents as well as teenagers should read. The sparse poetry conveys the power of the addiction so much more intensely than prose ever could.

As a parent, it was especially scary to see how quickly "the monster" claimed this young girl. The message of this book is so strong because it is never preachy or overdramitized. It comes across very true and real.

I read "Go Ask Alice" when I was a teenager and this book strikes the same emotions.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attention Parents!, November 4, 2004

By 

Tagurit (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crank (Paperback)

Have your teen or preteen read this book. The size of the book makes it look challenging, but the first page reaches out and grabs you for a fast, powerfully frightening read. I had my girls read it and they were both deeply impressed with Kristina/Bree's downhill slide into drug abuse. It's hard edged and realistic, so it's scary. Ellen conveys the emotion of the roller-coaster ride called Crank with honesty, vivid imagery and a style that will keep you asking for more.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not scary enough, September 1, 2009

By 

Guilty of Pleasure (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crank (Paperback)

No doubt about it: Crank will draw you in and sweep you along. Like crystal meth, the book's silent antagonist, Crank is quick to occupy your mind and hard to walk away from.

But it's not scary enough. I was ready for a harsh look at how the drug can destroy a teen's (or anyone's) life. That's not exactly how it turns out, despite the author's dire warnings.

Kristina, the main character, is a Good Girl. But one trip to see her druggie, estranged father, and she becomes Bree, a Bad Girl. Bree does meth. Bree flirts. Bad enough, sure, but that's really the worst Bree does for most of the book.

Back home, Bree has a hard time re-adjusting to Kristina's world. And all she wants is meth.

Spoiler: Things should have gone from bad to worse to worst. Instead, they go from bad to worse to just fine. So Bree/Kristina gets raped, but later she implicates herself because she wanted drugs from the boy (nevermind that he was a clean-cut, nearly Good Boy himself). From the rape, she gets pregnant. But the pregnancy is a blessing in disguise, because it forces her to kick meth, and tobacco, for the sake of her baby. And though she considers abortion, she miraculously feels the baby kick and decides to be a mother. She briefly considers adoption, but her friend knows someone who almost did that, changed her mind and then murdered the baby, so that, apparently, is a good reason to abandon that path.

In the end, she graduates with her class, has a beautiful (albeit not perfect) baby, and the support of her family. Oh, and she finds true love with a smart, successful, undyingly supportive guy along the way.

Give me a break. The girl doesn't even get arrested (she goes to juvie once, but it's only because she was out late. Seriously.). Whether or not she ultimately kicks her habit is left somewhat unresolved, but she is, at worst, a functioning addict. This is a stylistically interesting book, and an involving story, but is pretty weak in its attempt to serve as a warning against using drugs (I recommend the superior "smack" by Melvin Burgess).