Crank- An Addiction

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Overall I feel as though Crank was a decent book. At times it was hard to figure out where I was supposed to begin sentences and what order Hopkins intended for me to read. It was a quick read and very descriptive. I think that this book would be appropriate for 11th or 12th graders because of some of the sensitive topics that it brings about. I think Ellen Hopkins wrote this story to reach out to adolescents who may have thought about trying a new drug like crank because they are curious to know what it’s like. I think Ellen Hopkins wanted adolescents to see how dangerous crank is, and also how it changes a person life so quickly. I like that Hopkins chose to write the story in a poetic way because it paints a better picture of many of the situations she talks about. For example, when describing ecstasy she states, “It’s like falling softly into a pool of crystal mountain water…” (421).

The main character, Kristina, falls into the trap of addiction and we read her journey along the way. In Before I Met the Monster and But Now Nothing on pages 405-407, the protagonist reminisces on what her life was like before she was introduced to the drug, and then the new effects that it has had on her. She says before the monster, “life had a certain rhythm” (405). Then she goes on to say, “But now nothing felt right…” (407). This statement goes to show how much this drug has changed her life. Not only has the drug changed the protagonist’s daily life, but it also has changed her as a person. She is torn between being Kristina, which is her birth name given to her, the name that she believed in when her life was in order and routine, to being Bree, the name that the monster and crank turns her into. She goes through the whole story constantly being placed in predicaments where she has to decide who she wants to be portrayed as. I found it shocking the way these two different names she believed in affected her ego when put in certain situations. For example, in Paydirt, she could only thank Brendan as Bree when he raped her, because deep inside, Kristina did not want it to happen that way, but she was Bree for allowing it (312). 

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 8, 2016 at 2:24 PM

    I agree with you mentioning that it was difficult to know exactly how to read some poems because of its structure. I think you did a good job making a distinction between Bree and Kristina when you say "Kristina is the name she believed in and Bree being the name the monster gave her."

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    1. StephanieDawkinsNovember 9, 2016 at 5:54 AM

      I too struggled with finding out how to read some of the poems because of the structure. I often found myself reading it and it not being right and then having to go back and read it the correct way for it to make more sense to me. However, I do like the way the book is structured. She uses each word on every page to make a creative visual image for her readers that relates to the text on that page and to the book as a whole.

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