A Review on Crank by Sage S.

When visiting her father during the summer, Kristina is introduced to “the monster”.

Becoming addicted, Crank follows the life of Kristina as she struggles with her addictions and her two-faced identity.

I believe Crank is eligible to be an A-list book. It is a rare gift when an author is able to deliver a meaningful message and still write the book so it is not just appealing, but recommended and meaningful to the targeted audience.

Hopkins writing style is the first I have seen in this particular genre, which also attracts the reader in a different way. Peer pressure and drugs are most likely not going to vanish completely within the upcoming years, and neither will Crank.

It will never be too late nor boring to be educated with Crank, which will hopefully send out effective messages about drugs towards the up-coming messages and appeal to teens with an irresistible story.

I chose to read this book because it was of high recommendation from my peers. I also figured the poem styled writing, with small amounts of text on each page, would be a quick and easy read.

I was dead wrong. This was probably one of the hardest books I have read so far. Mostly because of the unanswered questions that kept popping up in my head, making the book almost unreadable.

When reading this book, one has to ponder the thoughts and ideas of the author, Ellen Hopkins.

The experiences of the main character are so detailed that it would seem almost impossible that Hopkins didn’t have similar experiences as the ones mentioned in Crank on her own.

This got me thinking, if Hopkins once had a drug problem, why did she write this book? One would immediately assume that Hopkins was trying to get the “don’t do drugs” point across to the reader.

If so, what reader? Who is the targeted audience? Assuming that Hopkins wrote this book to show the reader the dangers and consequences of drugs, why did she do it in the format of a poem?

It wouldn’t make a lot of sense for Hopkins to write this book specifically for middle aged people, given that they wouldn’t have much use for the meanings in Crank.

Crank is a book specifically written for teens that have heard of or encountered drugs, but not as heavy as meth. Crank gives the “magical” idea of drugs and puts it in a whole new perspective.

Hopkins delivers the message of the danger and consequences of drugs in a way that is appealing to many teens.

Hopkins does this by following the character from the very start, and slowing and gradually leering her into a heavy addiction, but adds in a few factors, such as relationships and friends, to make the story more interesting to teens.

The poetry format the book is written in makes Crank seem easier to read, which also catches the eye of the targeted teen reader.

In this way Hopkins is able to trick teens into reading Crank to deliver her message across, but adds a twist that keeps the reader turning the pages.

Once the reader has been tricked into the book, Hopkins tricks the reader to put down the back down with an entire new outlook on one’s decisions.

Feeling so realistic and in-escapable, Crank sucks the reader in then spits out a wave of relief as one finishes the book. Throughout the entire book, one cannot help to feel the amount of pain and stress the character is going through.

The reader will feel as if they are a alongside the character and going through the same experiences. That feeling alone is enough to scare away the reader from any type of peer pressure for a very long time, if not forever.

I was reminded of a couple books I have recently read while reading Crank. This includes Sherman Alexie’s The Very True Diaries of a Part-Time Indian, and Stephanie Myers Twilight, both for very different reasons.

Alexie and Hopkins are both trying to get their very different points out in very similar ways. Both authors use an appealing story line and a format out of the norm.

For example, while Hopkins writes poetry, Alexie adds illustrations of cartoon pictures. With Meyer and Hopkins, the route of the stories is what’s similar.

Both main characters chose their paths of life when visiting with their father. Both characters fall in love with a monster they cannot live without.

RATING: 9/10

I chose this rating because no matter how close it may come, nothing is perfect.