Customer Reviews

Crank

5 star:		(144)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

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).

Gifted in school, never in trouble, always the loving daughter; Kristina Georgia Snow seems to be the model of perfection. Kristina is far from that, however, and the manifestation of the problems she exhibits forms under the name of "Bree." Bree is many of the things that Kristina wants to be, she's fearless and she's her own person, and a visit with her absentee father sends Kristina scrambling into the arms of Bree and into the arms of another monster - crank. And while life seems good for a time, Kristina finds herself slowly bleeding away and the other her, the consumed her, taking hold.

Ellen Hopkins is an absolutely phenomenal writer, and even better than that is her ability to craft a tale using her own methods. It has to be mentioned that she also has a specific point-of-view about "the monster" in the book as well, recounting some of the struggles that she endured while her daughter fought with addiction and almost lost. Some of that is wrenching, too, but Hopkins uses that feeling and doesn't make you feel sorry for the person behind the pen. She instead uses that power to make you feel for the person behind the mask, hoping to find something better.

When I first read the book, I was impressed by the things that Hopkins manages to work into the proverbial foundations of the very thing she delivers. She writes words within the wording, putting things in the columns and the rows that formulate a story all their own. Things like "treading the riptide, good girls drown" appear in the middle of an area that is part of a larger sum, and the way these things are utilized make you pay attention.
It seems rare to have to do that anyone, too - paying attention, I mean. Too often an author placates an audience with a tale, and the somber tale is moving BUT it finds one thing missing.
The thing I like about Hopkins and her book Crank is that it is fixes a lot of that; she does call Crack "the monster" and she does tell her how much the substance hurt them all but, in the story, she still paints the "good points," the reasons for use and habituation, that are often left out of tales. She also spells everything out in a way that doesn't allow for speed-reading if you want the whole effect.
And, trust me, you want the whole effect.

Basically, when you read this, you get a feeling for the child, for the surroundings, and for the turmoil that brews inside her life. That makes it understandable when it comes to her meeting with her "father" and why she needs her alter-ego, not to mention the drug itself. Combine that with the beautiful workmanship, the story within the story, and you have something really well worth mentioning.

I am a former crank/meth user. I bought this book after being clean for 3 years. WOW it is so real the story line and how it is being in love with what this author calls The Monster. I have never found anything written on Meth/ The Monster, that touched me so deeply and gave me the friendly reminder of why I never want to go back. I bought every book Ellen Hopkins has written and I have never been in the least bit disappointed. If you want to know how quick meth grabs and kills your life READ THIS BOOK

Crank is a story about an average teenage girl named Kristina. While on a visit to her see her father she hasn't seen in over six years Kristina turns into a different person. While visiting her father her life changes for the worse. Lovely "Kristina" has now turned into what her friends call her "Bree". I give this book four stars because it is a little too graphic and detailed for most readers. The author Ellen Hopkins does do an excellent job in the writing, and people reading the story might relate to Kristina's experiences.

This is the scariest book I've read in a long time.
Perhaps I need to qualify that by admitting I don't seek out thrillers or horrors, but I was (and am) terrified by how easily the protagonist fell into the arms of meth.
That some readers are put off by the prose-in-verse format surprises me. The text is completely accessible and a plausible reflection on the intelligent narrator. Crank is a fact of life these days, and this book is a powerful lesson for those of us who think we and our children are somehow protected from its grasp. As Hopkins notes in her introduction, nothing in the story is impossible. That's what should be putting fear into all of us.

When I read the book 'Crank' by Ellen Hopkins about a month ago, I have to admit that it made me cry near the end. The book tells the story of a teenage girl with strong drug problems - problems that could happen to anyone. When she meets up with Adam near the beginning, you'd never even begin to predict what would happen throughout the entire book. What makes me sad though, is toward the end it seems like she can't find anyone to rely on because she's disconnected herself from her family and friends, and instead takes refuge beneath the wings of 'the monster', letting it guide her through, knowing she's strongly addicted. Ellen leaves you with the knowledge that she may never get off her addiction, and partially with the moral of the story: drugs are addictive and harmful. They can really screw you up. That's why I like this book so much... it actually makes you learn a lesson, without knowing anything at all.

Wow. I really don't know what to write about this book. That's how good it is. I'm afraid I'll turn you away from one of the best books I've read in a very long time. Crank is so real, yet intense, that I loved it until the very last page.

Anyway, this book is about a girl, Kristina (or Bree because of the 'monster'), and her spending time at her long-lost dad, which changed her life forever. First, she meets the perfect guy at her dad's job at a bowling place. Yeah, he's perfect except for the whole drug thing. Then, of course, she must leave her father's and her source of 'crank', Buddy, the love of her life. When she gets home she finds new sources for the 'monster'. She gets it from a bad boy, Chase, and a perfect-jock-type-guy, Brendon. For the next couple of months a lot of stuff happens, but I won't tell you that because that would be mean and tell you the whole story line. I well say that she does some crazy stuff when high on the 'monster', and I am sorry for everyone that has made this decision in his or her life, and then have to go though what this character had to go through.

Overall, I loved this book. I'm really sorry if I turned you away from this book because I didn't mean to. I loved this book, and it has deep meaning to me. Crank is a monster and I hope this story tells you to never do it, ever. Or this could situation happen to you.

Crank, ice, crystal, speed; whatever you choose to call meth, Kristina calls it the monster, which is a rightly given name.

*SPOILER ALERT* When Kristina visits her drugged out dad, she meets her first love, Adam. He shows her the world of love, physical attraction, and most importantly, drugs. She tries pot & cigarettes, but what really catches her is meth, the monster. When she goes back home, she realizes already she needs to have it in her life. She goes from shy, smart, well-behaved Kristina to sexy, rebellious, and clever Bree, her alter ego, and the beloved wife of the monster. She hooks up with a hottie lifegaurd Brendan, and uses him for the meth. However, she is raped by him, and is scarred. She needs a new source for her meth. She meets Chase, who not only shows her great meth, but great love. She also makes deals to mafias and cranked up cheerleaders. She loses her closet friends and her family's respect, but all she cares about is the monster. Her world really crashes down when she realizes she is pregnant...with Brendan's baby. So the story ends, with baby Hunter and Kristina coming back to her old self...but not for long...*END OF SPOILER*

I HIGHLY recommend you read the sequal, Glass. It really completes the remarkable plot that Ellen Hopkins unfolds.

*parental review*
bad lanuage - 4 - some cuss word, including some f-words
sexual content - 6 - she doesn't have sex w/ adam, but they get close. she is raped by Brendan. She has sex w/ Chase.
violence - 2 - Kristina's mother slaps her once, Brendan rapes her against her will
adult content - 7 - sex, rape, drugs, addiction, abuse, teen pregnancy