Crank

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  Ellen Hopkins books are all in verse, some rhyming, most not. Each page/chapter is a separate poem, which makes for some pretty fat books but they read in the same amount of time as a 300-ish page novel, rather than the 6- or 700 pages they actually clock in at.
  The poems are easy to read, very little depth. In most cases, I don't believe the form adds much to the novel; at times the novels feel light, lacking in description and characterization because each poem is so very internal to the ... (show more)

  Ellen Hopkins books are all in verse, some rhyming, most not. Each page/chapter is a separate poem, which makes for some pretty fat books but they read in the same amount of time as a 300-ish page novel, rather than the 6- or 700 pages they actually clock in at.
  The poems are easy to read, very little depth. In most cases, I don't believe the form adds much to the novel; at times the novels feel light, lacking in description and characterization because each poem is so very internal to the main character/author.
  Some of the poems become hard to read simply because they are formatted to show a picture on a page: a house, tear drops, spaghetti, a bong. Some poems rise above their form by providing 2 poems on each page, each one augmenting the other.
  Crank tells Kristina's story of becoming addicted to meth, street name "crank." It is loosely based on Ellen Hopkins' daughter's own story. It is a dark ride. It feels authentic, believable. Kristina is a strong character with many flaws. We watch her fall and keep hoping she'll come out of it as she struggles with her daily life.
  I much preferred this book to "Burned" (also by Ellen Hopkins). The decisions Kristina makes follow closely from what has happened before. This is not a happy book bt perhaps it may help keep kids away from crank/meth/ice/crystal, which appears to be one of the main goals of its writing. (show less)

   

   

  by Valerie Kempff Serdy on Feb 03, 2009 at 03:05PM

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  Wow. I have to admit that when I first started reading the book, I was a little apprehensive about the fact that it was written in verse. There are some excellent examples of the different types of poem, and eventually I found myself unable to stop reading at times. This book is definitely only appropriate for independent reading at the middle school level, at the high school level, it could be used in literature circles. This is definitely a book to use in order to spread the awareness of th... (show more)

  Wow. I have to admit that when I first started reading the book, I was a little apprehensive about the fact that it was written in verse. There are some excellent examples of the different types of poem, and eventually I found myself unable to stop reading at times. This book is definitely only appropriate for independent reading at the middle school level, at the high school level, it could be used in literature circles. This is definitely a book to use in order to spread the awareness of the dangerous and dead-end world of drug use. I only wish to have learned a little bit more about Kristina before her drug use, but now that I think about it, Hopkins did an amazing job of developing her character with very few words. I truly think that had a book like this been available and Hopkins' daughter had read it, then maybe she would have made a different choice. Beautiful, sad, and blunt, I can't wait to read Glass.. (show less)

   

   

  by Amanda Beth on Sep 20, 2009 at 11:50PM

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