Benchmark Book Review Crank

Book Review 

The book Crank was recommend to me by my Student Assistant Teacher Alisha Clark.  I really wasn’t sure that this type of novel told in verse form was anything I would like, since normally it’s not my thing.  So, imagine my surprise when I started reading it and found myself sucked into the story to the point where I could not put this book down. 

Ellen Hopkins wrote Crank in 2004.  She once said in a interview that her book is somewhat based on her life and things that she went through. I always thought that when writing books, a lot of authors really don’t like to express their feelings too much because some feel like they don’t want to be looked down on or judged.  I feel like we learn lessons from reading books like this, and even though we go through things doesn’t mean others have not lived it.  From reading this book, I’ve seen how families can overcome things for the better and the worse. The book was written from the point of view of Kristina, which sounds like the point of view of the author.  I liked how the author didn’t use a lot of characters and told it mainly from Kristina’s point of view. Each and every night, Kristina sat down and expressed her self about the “monster” and how it made her feel when she was not at her highest point, like how she felt when taking the drugs.  It made me have an understanding about the people who take do crack and pop pills. It showed me that they would do anything just to get high and feel like the person that is inside them would only be expressed when they are high.

I had a few opinions on the plot of Crank.  I didn’t understand why the mother let her child go stay with her father knowing that he was addicted to crack and smoking anything that can get him high. It’s funny because it stated how the mother left him just to get away from it and then to put her child with a person who has a tough time dealing with their own problems. The main character Kristina seemed like she is trying to be someone that she is not. I believe that the author gave her a alter ego name Bree, Bree was the other person inside Kristina’s mind, she was the loud mouthed one and she didn’t care what anybody had to say about her. Then Kristina started talking to Buddy, a boy she met when she was with her father.  I didn’t like how she seemed so easy, it seemed like she’ll do anything for him just to make him happy.  Noticing how Buddy introduces Kristina to drugs, It made me think that the father wanted to have his daughter and her friend on drugs, so that he could join them or have company. I didn’t like that at all. It made me look at him like he is a drug freak and would do anything just to get high. Then for Kristina, who thinks it was okay to do what any man tells her to do. It seems like Kristina wanted to find love, but just was looking in all the wrong places.

This book was written for young girls who think they are out here alone and feel like there’s no one that they can talk to.  Even though we look down on and say that people who do drugs are wrong, I believe that it just some way of how people express their ways. For example, if someone feels like an unwanted child, they may turn to drugs.  People need to have a better understanding of what is happening when it comes to reading books.  Some of us read books just to read them and other read books to learn how to overcome their problems. From reading this book, I came to the point that I learned how to deal with things and I don’t have to do drugs or take anything because from learning what Kristina went through, I know what these types of drugs can do to you.

I would give this book four stars out of four stars because I love how Ellen Hopkins writes some of her book in poetry form.  The overall mood of the story was relieving because of how Kristina grew from being a young teenager to a an adult.   There is a surprise at the ending for the reader that is unexpected.  Throughout the story she overcame her struggles.  After reading this book, I think Ellen Hopkins told a good story and did a good job doing it.  I think the way Ellen Hopkins ended the story was a good setup for the reader to get the message across that the mistakes that Kristina made so that other young girls would not make the same mistakes as well.

Works Cited

Hopkins, Ellen.  Crank.  New York : Simon & Schuster , 2004 . Print .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_(novel). Wikipedia, Crank.  Website.

   

   

    

When the winter came , I felt you calling my name. didn’t  know how to express the pain. Your was controlling me, would let me be the person I am when I feel the monster inside,
 I feel like this person taking my body but controlling my mind . and I like it.
 I didn’t care who see me, I didn’t care about what anybody to say, I just wanted to get high. 
So hard not be able to express me. Good girls ain’t no fun, and the bad girl are just trying to fuck.
Knowing me Im trying all I want to do was be a bad ass and get high. 
The emotion I feel cant no one take it way from me. I was just a fool. 
Knowing that I should go  even when I PACK MY BAG SOMETHING ALWAYS HOLDS ME BACK.