Summary: Kristina is an average young lady. She grew up with her mother, sister, and
brother. Even though her mother is
remarried, things have been normal. Then
she goes to visit her dad. Everything
changes. She discovers her inner wild
child she names “Bree,” and Bree does all kinds of things Kristina would never
do. Bree breaks up a relationship and
hooks up with a bad boy. Bree tries crank
and instantly gets addicted to walking with “the monster.” The time spent at her dad’s changes Kristina’s
life. When she returns, the monster
still calls to her. She has to find new
connections to get the crank she craves.
Bree insists on flirting with boys as well as disaster. Things get worse and worse for Kristina as
the addiction gets stronger. She ends up
getting raped, going to jail, dealing crank, and getting pregnant. It’s the pregnancy that ends up finally
releasing Bree and the monster’s hold on Kristina and waking her up to what has
happened. Impression: For years,
students have read and loved this book.
I was never curious enough to try it.
I’m glad I listened to the audio part of the time and read the book part
of the time. The unusual way the words
were arranged on the page took an adjustment period, and the audio helped me
get into the story itself. At the same
time, the word arrangement was intentional and creative. The way there was a poem about Adam, and the
words were arranged in three hearts added to the feel of the poem; likewise,
there was a poem about snow falling, and the words fell whimsically like snow. It’s not for the faint of heart, and I won’t
go around suddenly recommending it to everyone.
I feel better about having it in our library though. Suggestions
for library setting: These poems
make poetry more accessible for students.
I can see these being great springboard poems that kids can try to
emulate, not worrying about assonance or symbols but just playing with
language, word choice, and word placement.
They could pick a structure like the conversation poems or the prison
cinder blocks and try to write in that style.
Hopkins, Ellen.
(2004). Crank. New York: Simon Pulse.
Nonfiction author Hopkins pens
her first novel, written in verse, introducing 15-year-old narrator Kristina,
who reveals how she became addicted to crank, and how the stimulant turned her from straight-A
student to drug dealer, and eventually a teen mom. On a court-ordered visit to
see her slimy and long-absent dad, she meets-and is instantly attracted to --
Adam, who sports a "tawny six pack,/and a smile." Soon, Adam
introduces her to "the monster" (there, she also unleashes a new
personality, id-driven Bree). Her addiction grows, as does Bree's control.
Readers get a vivid sense of the highs and lows involved with using crank ("I
needed food, sleep,/but the monster denied/every bit of it"). Her life
changes quickly: Soon she's dating two guys, both of whom use crank; says "Fuck you" to her mom, can't keep
tip with school, and loses her old friends. There are plenty of dramatic
moments: The first time she does crank, for example, her dad joins her. That same night,
she stumbles into a bad area and is almost raped, and Adam's girlfriend tries
to kill herself. Later in the book, she does get raped and starts selling the
drug for the Mexican Mafia. Readers will appreciate the creative use of form
here (some poems, for instance, are written in two columns that can be read
separately or together), and although the author is definitely on a mission,
she creates a world nearly as consuming and disturbing as the titular drug.
Crank. (2004).
Publishers Weekly, 251(44),
63-64.
Hypnotic and jagged free verse
wrenchingly chronicles 16-year-old Kristina's addiction to crank. Kristina's
dating alter ego, Bree, emerges when "gentle clouds of monotony"
smother Kristina's life--when there's nothing to do and no one to connect with.
Visiting her neglectful and draggy father for the first time in years, Bree
meets a boy and snorts crank (methamphetamine). The rash is irresistible and
she's hooked, despite a horrible crank-related incident with the boy's other
girlfriend. Back home with her mother, Kristina feels both ignored and
smothered, needing more drags and more boys--in that order. One boy is
wonderful and one's a rapist, but it's crank holding Bree up at this point. The
author's sharp verse plays with spacing on the page, sometimes providing two
alternate readings. In a too brief wrap-up, Kristina keeps her baby (a product
of rape) while Hopkins--realistically--offers no real conclusion. Powerful and
unsettling.
Crank. (2004).
Kirkus Reviews, 72(19), 961.
