Guest Blogger Book Review: Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Hello Everyone! My name is Samantha Tantillo and I’m currently in the library media studies program at St. John Fisher College and I am excited to read more YA literature. My goal in the future is to become a school librarian and help students with research tool and help them explore the importance of the library.

I decided to read Crank by Ellen Hopkins. This is the first book I have read that is written in the form of free-verse poetry which makes it a quick read that interests young readers. This book focuses on the troubled life of a girl named Kristina and is told from her point of view. Young Kristina embarks on some challenging issues that she tells the readers about throughout the book. Kristina is a teenager who does well in school and listens to her parents. She soon finds herself at her dead-beat dad’s house after years of not seeing each other. Left alone for most of her visit, Kristina meets a young man named Adam who is living in the same apartment complex as her dad. Attracted to him, she pretends to be Bree, a person she is in her daydreams. Bree is confident and flirtatious something Kristina is not. A week of hanging out with Adam leads to Kristina getting addicted to drugs or as she calls it, “the monster”. From what she thinks is an innocent experience, she is now addicted to the way it makes her feel. When Kristina heads home from her summer stay, she struggles to fit back in with her family. Kristina didn’t know that this drug would soon consume her and her life. This drug would soon take over her entire life. After reading Crank, the reader gets to know the struggle of Kristina’s life, and will feel as if they know the character.

Being the reader and becoming invested in the character, it is difficult to see Bree continue to use drugs. But, it is very important to read about the dangers of addiction most importantly for young readers. This novel will be hard to put down once you start reading it.

Not only does Ellen Hopkins provide the readers with the emotional story, she sends out a message in the poem about the addiction of drugs. As a reader, I feel almost like I know Bree and can feel the emotions she is going through. As I turned each page, I learned the reality of addiction. I believe all young adults should read this book and learn about the true meaning of addiction shown through Kristina. Readers will go through the journey with Kristina through heartache, laughing, and crying.

~Samantha T.