Crank

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Many of the books on our syllabus have dealt with tough issues and have, at times, been hard to read. I would argue, however, that this book was the toughest to read so far. It, at times, depressed me, angered me, made me feel hopeless, made me lose faith in humanity, and ultimately made me very worried for adolescents. I'm normally very very against censorship of books. I think it's naive to assume you can just hide taboo topics and dangerous things from adolescents. I also think being more educated about a topic ultimately benefits students and seeing realistic accounts of these issues (like in books) helps students connect with characters and see all the layers of these difficult topics. That being said, this is the one book I could see myself wanting to censor as a parent. For whatever reason drugs, especially "hard" drugs, unnerve me more than any other taboo topic. I think it comes down to drugs being a choice. For whatever reason I'm a thousand times more likely to pass judgement about those who choose to do hard drugs whereas the other controversial issues we've discussed in this class aren't necessarily "choices" more than just issues that adolescents are forced to deal with (racism, rape, depression, autism) For whatever reason hard drugs have become the "line" for me when it comes to censorship. All of a sudden books like this make me want to do the very thing I just described as "naive" and just hide all of it, especially from my own future children.

I felt that this book (like the others we've read) attempted to paint a complex portrait of a teen struggling with addiction. It showed the ills and the terrible consequences of what happens when you chose to do drugs, but it also tries to make you sympathize with Kristina/Bree. Even though at times I felt sympathy for Kristina, she was much more likely to anger me. A lot. I especially hated the end of the book where she got pregnant. It made me see her as even more careless and stupid. Yes the baby was a product of her rape but she also didn't seem to be using protection with Chase either because she thought the baby was his. She was acting carelessly and immaturely. I really don't want to be the uterus police but this girl is the poster child for who needs Planned Parenthood. Not only is she a pregnant teen which is hard enough (and a justifiable reason for getting an abortion on its own) but her baby is a product of a rape, it will be born addicted to hard drugs, it can have possible birth defects, Kristina didn't stop doing drugs while pregnant....the list goes on.

Overall, a part of me believes this is an accurate portrayal of some teens' adolescent years. Drug use/abuse does need to be talked about. I just think this book was really jarring and raw for me. The logical part of me thinks these types of books should be taught and these issues need to be discussed. The "future parent" part of me wants to shelter shelter shelter the hell out of my kids and students.

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