Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I put off reading Crank for a long time because I knew how heavy it was going to be.  And, hey, it's summer - I didn't want to read anything too grim during these beautiful months of freedom.  But one of my students from last year told me over and over how much she loved Crank and that she really wanted me to read it.  My philosophy:  When a teenager loves a book that much and wants to share it with a lame adult, it's time to stop and pay attention.

The words that come to my mind after having read Crank:

Stunning.  Excruciating.  Unforgettable. 

Here's a brief synopsis from the back of the book: 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.

Barrel of laughs, huh?  Not so much.  Painful as it was to read this story, I loved it from start to finish. Ellen Hopkins' character reached out from the pages of that book, grabbed me by the collar, and forced me to look at the very difficult and often ugly truths behind addiction and mental illness. Every brief chapter is written in verse, which I imagine was Hopkins' way of revealing the essence of each character, situation, and emotion in the story.

If I had to identify one weakness it would be that there were many elements in Crank that reminded me of Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls.  But you know what? Whiskeytown reminds me a lot of Wilco, and I don't love either of those bands any less!  (Look them up on iTunes, kids.  You won't be sorry.)

To wrap it up, I give Ellen Hopkins and Crank five stars.  However, I'm not ready to move on to her other YA novels (Fallout, Glass, and Impulse to name a few) just yet.  I need a little fantasy or maybe a romance with a semi-happy ending before I do that.  But I will definitely return to Hopkins' work and share it with all of my students once the school year begins.