Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I’m reading Crank by Ellen Hopkins for my fourth quarter reading assignment. This book tells the story of a teenage girl, Kristina, who becomes addicted to crank, a form of methamphetamine. The novel follows Kristina's downward spiral as she attempts to feed her addiction and deal with the consequences of the bad decisions that she has made. It is during this time that Kristina gives birth to a new personality whom she will come to call Bree. Kristina describes Bree as the essence of herself. While Kristina is a traditional good girl and straight-A student, Bree is fearless. Bree flirts with boys, wants to experience the wild side of life, and takes drugs.

This book is based on a true story and is written by the mother through the daughter’s perspective. I’m glad that the mother chose to tell the story in her daughter’s perspective and not her own. By reading this book through the daughter’s perspective I learned a lot about addiction. Throughout my life I have been told numerous times from the school system and my parents that I should never try drugs. I have heard a countless amount of times that drugs are bad because they cause a deterioration of one’s lifestyle. Before reading this book I knew that drugs were bad, I did not know to what extent it could go to, to completely consume a person’s life. This book portrays how easy it is to become addicted to something so life threatening. Kristina literally went from being a good girl that had never even touched a drug in her life to doing multiple lines of “the monster” a day. I also found it interesting that she knew what she was doing was bad but continued to do it. She knew that all of the people close to her would be disappointed in her yet she continued to do it. I also found it interesting to what extent a person will go to in order to change their old identity. I think that Kristina was so tired of being the girl next door that she drastically changed who she was. She felt as if “Bree” enhanced who she was and offered her opportunities that she otherwise would have never have had. I also learned that I should never judge a book by its cover. Kristina seemed to have it all; a nice house, two loving parents, and a straight A student. But deep down she was missing something that nothing tangible could ever make up for. I also learned a lot about the nature of addiction, and the physiology of this particular substance.

While reading this novel I discovered that my research could take several directions. Many topics pop up in this book; high school substance abuse, rape, etc.