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ematic readers usually read the Dedication and Author’s Note before tackling a particular novel. Often, they glean some piece of information that sticks in the backs of their minds as they read and helps them makes sense of why the author wrote that work. In this case, Hopkins informs readers that this chronicle of Kristina’s gradual addiction to methamphetamine (also known as “crank”) is “loosely based on a very true story—my daughter’s” (Author’s Note). That fact alone gave this story of a young girl’s fall into an abyss a larger importance, and readers feel it on every page.Without knowing the background of the author, readers learn early on the intensity of the story. Narrating in the first person, Kristina is visiting her father, someone with his own life problems, during the summer. Even if she may not want to be there, she has to. Her parents are divorced, and the visit is part of the settlement. Her mother has remarried and is living in Reno, while the biological father is working in a bowling alley between and is subject to bouts of drug and alcohol abuse. He also lives in an apartment in a rough part of Albuquerque.
As a character, Kristina begins the novel as an inexperienced girl off on her own, seemingly for the first time. She is interested in her parents' divorce and tries not to harbor ill will toward them. Indeed, she shows an ability to forgive her father his sins, as long as “I could forever/stay his little princess” (39). When she meets Adam in her father’s building, her independence feeds her curiosity, especially because it is the first time in her life a boy has noticed her. Given her sheltered background, she is taken with him, and readers can easily understand how quickly she begins experimenting with him. After all, she is far away from her mother and her rules. Her new setting with her permissive (or distracted) father provides her the opportunity for something and someone new. With Adam, she takes on a new personality, telling him her name is Bree. Bree is unrestrained, a girl willing to take risks to satisfy her desires.
The tension between Kristina and her alter ego, Bree, drives the rest of the plot. Eventually, there’s a return to Reno, to her brother, mother (a writer) and stepfather in their suburban house. Kristina must fight with Bree, but Bree ends up winning. When school begins, Bree is in control, and her desires are unfettered. She has to find crank, and she will do whatever it takes to get it. The plot is somewhat predictable in this cautionary tale, as Kristina begins doing worse in school and placing herself in a number of dangerous situations in her search for drugs and dalliances with boys. Her family relationships are strained as she tries hide Bree from them and almost succeeds.
Hopkins writes this sad, gripping story in free verse. Often, when Kristina is caught up in questions or internal debates, or when there is conversation, the poems are written in two columns. Kristina and her father have such a conversation in “He hadn’t Changed After All” (67), and she and her mother engage in a conversation in “Grounded UFN” (258), when Kristina's “new” life is becoming clearer to her mother. These poems and the others like them can be read as one complete poem or as two different poems to isolate the arguments and responses of each of the character. Hopkins also writes in shaped poems, as in “I Even Spent Time at the Bowling Alley” (65), where the stanzas resemble lane markings, and in “Ecstasy Is Hard to Describe” (427-8), with its lines written and inverted as the bars of the letter “E.” “Snow Began to Fall” (514) reminds readers of falling snowflakes (and is one of the few descriptions of setting in the entire novel).
The titles of the poems all echo the schizophrenia of Kristina and Bree and do a fine job of establishing her descent into a world not easily understood. The poems are written in a variety of forms that capture the voice of a confused high school girl and “paint painfully sharp images of Kristina/Bree and those around her, detailing how powerful the ‘monster’ can be” (Korbeck). The language is simple and intense, and the whole story is worthwhile. Readers will find themselves hoping for the best for Kristina but sympathetic as she hurtles toward the worst.
Reference List
Korbeck, Sharon. 2004. Review of Crank by Ellen Hopkins. School Library Journal 50(11): 145. Library, Information Science & Technology (LISTA) database through TWU Library. Accessed 26 November 2011.
Highly Recommended (Grade 9 & up): Be forewarned, though, that this can be a very tough topic for everyone involved, teens and adults.
Review Excerpts
Although the author is definitely on a mission, she creates a world nearly as consuming and disturbing as the titular drug. (Publishers Weekly, November 1, 2004)
Although novels in verse are not new anymore, this one still works. Hopkins delivers a gritty, fast-paced read while effectively portraying the dangers of substance abuse without sounding pedantic or preachy. Teens will relate to Kristina's desire to experiment as well as her difficulty balancing conflicting feelings. (Voice of Youth Advocates, February 1, 2005)
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. (School Library Journal, November 1, 2004)
But Hopkins uses the spare, fragmented style to powerful effect, heightening the emotional impact of dialogues, inner monologues, and devastating scenes, including a brutal date rape. Readers won't soon forget smart, sardonic Kristina; her chilling descent into addiction; or the author's note, which references her own daughter's struggle with the monster. (Booklist, November 15, 2004)
Review Excerpts from Books in Print database, TWU Library, accessed 15 November 2011.
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