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A review by cdjdhj
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
This book is compelling, but because of the subject matter and the way it is addressed, I won't give it a star rating.
I read this book because some of my students wanted to read it for an assignment and I felt that I needed to preview it. Reading it from my perspective as a parent and teacher, it made me sick and disgusted. The main character literally ruins her life with illicit drugs and sex. It is gritty and explicit. The language is raw. It is probably a book that more parents and teachers should read so that they know what is going on with more teenagers, and indeed parents and families, than we probably want to admit. I do feel, however, that there are teens who will see in this book, affirmation of a culture of addiction and promiscuity that is, in reality, a totally destructive to anyone who ventures near it. I am told that this is a much requested book in our school's library, but I don't think that teens are reading it to reinforce an attitude of "just say no." I read this book to educate myself, and educate me it did. I would in no way recommend this book however, to teens. I would not want my own teenager to read it. Any parents who see this book come home with their teen should probably sit down and have a serious conversation and evaluate what might be going on in their child's life. On a literary level, the book is compelling and a quick and easy read. While it is long, it is written in sculpted free-verse poetry and so goes very quickly. It explores, however, a part of our society that is in no way uplifting or redeeming, in such a way that teens might feel that "highs" of drugs and sex are the pinnacle of what life is about. It would take a more emotionally mature individual to see through the lies and fallacies of the highs to the total destruction of lives it results in.
I read this book because some of my students wanted to read it for an assignment and I felt that I needed to preview it. Reading it from my perspective as a parent and teacher, it made me sick and disgusted. The main character literally ruins her life with illicit drugs and sex. It is gritty and explicit. The language is raw. It is probably a book that more parents and teachers should read so that they know what is going on with more teenagers, and indeed parents and families, than we probably want to admit. I do feel, however, that there are teens who will see in this book, affirmation of a culture of addiction and promiscuity that is, in reality, a totally destructive to anyone who ventures near it. I am told that this is a much requested book in our school's library, but I don't think that teens are reading it to reinforce an attitude of "just say no." I read this book to educate myself, and educate me it did. I would in no way recommend this book however, to teens. I would not want my own teenager to read it. Any parents who see this book come home with their teen should probably sit down and have a serious conversation and evaluate what might be going on in their child's life. On a literary level, the book is compelling and a quick and easy read. While it is long, it is written in sculpted free-verse poetry and so goes very quickly. It explores, however, a part of our society that is in no way uplifting or redeeming, in such a way that teens might feel that "highs" of drugs and sex are the pinnacle of what life is about. It would take a more emotionally mature individual to see through the lies and fallacies of the highs to the total destruction of lives it results in.