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A review by bwreads
Tilt by Ellen Hopkins
4.0
You know why I like Ellen Hopkins's books? Because she writes about real teenagers, who drink and do drugs and have sex and hate their parents and love their parents and bully people or are bullied by people and are COMPLETELY NORMAL AND REAL. Not chaste beings who have inhabited the planet for 15 - 17 years without sullying themselves and wno are ever so surprised at the difficulties that come along their paths.
So in this book (which is written in poetry just like her others), there are three main characters: Mikayla, who gets pregnant and has to decide what to do about it; Shane, who has a sister coming to the end of a terminal illness and discovers that his new boyfriend has HIV and has to learn to live with death; and Harley, who is only thirteen and wants so desperately for a boy to fall in love with that she is taken advantage of.
The stories were real, the characters were well developed, the language was concise and beautiful...the heartstrings got a good tug more than once.
There were a couple of times I thought it got a tiny bit preachy, so that the characters' characters were stretched a little too thin and it sounded like the author talking, but it wasn't too bad the two or three times that it happened. It wasn't at all like Ellen Hopkins got up on a platform and started soapboxing her way into my brain with her message. Just, it was a little too obvious the conclusions that teens reading this book would reach, and what they would take away, and I thought it didn't leave much room for actual thought. Maybe the reason I'm so forgiving is because I agree with her: these are important messages for teens to hear. I sound like I'm waffling here, but it's because I'm not sure how to say it. I guess I'll jump up on my platform and do a little soapboxing of my own.
So here goes:
I guess I'll say that it seems obvious that Ms. Hopkins wants teenagers to be against abortion, even when it's difficult, and while I'm against abortion, I'm not sure if it's right to make it the "wrong" choice when it is a PERSONAL choice. I think lots of girls are pressured into abortions they don't want. Lots of other girls are pressured to go ahead and have babies they don't want. I feel like it's wrong to force one or the other. I believe education should be the answer. "Here are your choices. This is one path. This is the other path. Perhaps there's even a third or fourth path. Now you get to choose whichever one is right for you, and you have to live with it for the rest of your life, so please learn as much as you can about each one so that you can make the best and most informed decision."
Most books aren't written that way, though. They want to give you a side. And I liked the way Ellen Hopkins presented this side, and I loved her characters and the way they changed and grew through the stories, and the ways they were connected to each other and to other people. It was an excellent book, and I plan to recommend it to lots of teens and to all the adults I know who like to read YA and maybe to adults who don't realize yet how great YA novels are. And to all you good people on goodreads who need a new book to read. Read this one!
So in this book (which is written in poetry just like her others), there are three main characters: Mikayla, who gets pregnant and has to decide what to do about it; Shane, who has a sister coming to the end of a terminal illness and discovers that his new boyfriend has HIV and has to learn to live with death; and Harley, who is only thirteen and wants so desperately for a boy to fall in love with that she is taken advantage of.
The stories were real, the characters were well developed, the language was concise and beautiful...the heartstrings got a good tug more than once.
There were a couple of times I thought it got a tiny bit preachy, so that the characters' characters were stretched a little too thin and it sounded like the author talking, but it wasn't too bad the two or three times that it happened. It wasn't at all like Ellen Hopkins got up on a platform and started soapboxing her way into my brain with her message. Just, it was a little too obvious the conclusions that teens reading this book would reach, and what they would take away, and I thought it didn't leave much room for actual thought. Maybe the reason I'm so forgiving is because I agree with her: these are important messages for teens to hear. I sound like I'm waffling here, but it's because I'm not sure how to say it. I guess I'll jump up on my platform and do a little soapboxing of my own.
So here goes:
I guess I'll say that it seems obvious that Ms. Hopkins wants teenagers to be against abortion, even when it's difficult, and while I'm against abortion, I'm not sure if it's right to make it the "wrong" choice when it is a PERSONAL choice. I think lots of girls are pressured into abortions they don't want. Lots of other girls are pressured to go ahead and have babies they don't want. I feel like it's wrong to force one or the other. I believe education should be the answer. "Here are your choices. This is one path. This is the other path. Perhaps there's even a third or fourth path. Now you get to choose whichever one is right for you, and you have to live with it for the rest of your life, so please learn as much as you can about each one so that you can make the best and most informed decision."
Most books aren't written that way, though. They want to give you a side. And I liked the way Ellen Hopkins presented this side, and I loved her characters and the way they changed and grew through the stories, and the ways they were connected to each other and to other people. It was an excellent book, and I plan to recommend it to lots of teens and to all the adults I know who like to read YA and maybe to adults who don't realize yet how great YA novels are. And to all you good people on goodreads who need a new book to read. Read this one!