Product Description

Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina -- she's fearless.

Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul -- her life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7982 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Amazon.com Review
Ellen Hopkins's semi-autobiographical verse novel, Crank, reads like a Go Ask Alice for the 21st century. In it, she chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank. Soon, her grades plummet, her relationships with family and friends deteriorate, and she needs more and more of the monster just to get through the day. Kristina hits her lowest point when she is raped by one of her drug dealers and becomes pregnant as a result. Her decision to keep the baby slows her drug use, but doesn't stop it, and the author leaves the reader with the distinct impression that Kristina/Bree may never be free from her addiction. In the author's note, Hopkins warns "nothing in this story is impossible," but when Kristina's controlled, high-powered mother allows her teenage daughter to visit her biological father (a nearly homeless known drug user), the story feels unbelievable. Still, the descriptions of crystal meth use and its consequences are powerful, and will horrify and transfix older teenage readers, just as Alice did over 20 years ago. --Jennifer Hubert

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up–Seventeen-year-old Kristina Snow is introduced to crank on a trip to visit her wayward father. Caught up in a fast-paced, frightening, and unfamiliar world, she morphs into "Bree" after she "shakes hands with the monster." Her fearless, risk-taking alter ego grows stronger, "convincing me to be someone I never dreamed I'd want to be." When Kristina goes home, things don't return to normal. Although she tries to reconnect with her mother and her former life as a good student, her drug use soon takes over, leaving her "starving for speed" and for boys who will soon leave her scarred and pregnant. Hopkins writes in free-verse poems that paint painfully sharp images of Kristina/Bree and those around her, detailing how powerful the "monster" can be. The poems are masterpieces of word, shape, and pacing, compelling readers on to the next chapter in Kristina's spiraling world. This is a topical page-turner and a stunning portrayal of a teen's loss of direction and realistically uncertain future.–Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 8-12. Like the teenage crack user in the film Traffic, the young addict in this wrenching, cautionary debut lives in a comfortable, advantaged home with caring parents. Sixteen-year-old Kristina first tries crank, or crystal meth, while visiting her long-estranged father, a crank junkie. Bree is Kristina's imagined, bolder self, who flirts outrageously and gets high without remorse, and when Kristina returns to her mother and family in Reno, it's Bree who makes connections with edgy guys and other crank users that escalate into full-blown addiction and heartrending consequences. Hopkins tells Kristina's story in experimental verse. A few overreaching lines seem out of step with character voices: a boyfriend, for example, tells Kristina that he'd like to wait for sex until she is "free from dreams of yesterday." But Hopkins uses the spare, fragmented style to powerful effect, heightening the emotional impact of dialogues, inner monologues, and devastating scenes, including a brutal date rape. Readers won't soon forget smart, sardonic Kristina; her chilling descent into addiction; or the author's note, which references her own daughter's struggle with "the monster." Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

AWESOME!!
Ellen Hopkins is amazing! The way she writes is amazing! The way the book is written is crutial to the story line. I learned things in this book I had never thought about before. I suggest this book for any girl that wants to read something out of the ordinary.

Crank
Crank is about a girl named Kristina, she is a very shy person. Over the summer she decides to go visit her dad which makes her mom uncomfortable. Kristina is pretty much a perfect daughter, but her dad is an alcoholic that is known to do some hard drugs. While Kristina is visiting her dad she meets a gorgeous guy who she introduces herself as Bree to. Kristina does not like herself too much so she is shocked when he takes an interest in her. It turns out he is a drug dealer, but she falls in love with him anyways. He shows her new things and she gets addicting to crank. Summer comes to an end, but being at her dad's brought out a side of her that she continues to call Bree. She doesn't want to leave the boy but they agree to write. Once she comes back she can't stop thinking about the monster. Kristina/Bree ditches her old friends to find new ones that can satisfy the monster. By the time her mom notices she has a serious problem, it is too late. Kristina will do anything to get some including losing her virginity. Which towards the end proves to be a poor decision on her part.
Crank is a very good book. It is an easy read that opens your eyes about drugs. This book makes you feel several different emotions, and lets you know what Kristina is thinking the whole time. Ellen Hopkins has a very unique style. The book is written in poems which add to the overall novel. But you forget you are reading poems and you will not want to put the book down. Something else that makes the book more interesting is that Hopkins states that the story is loosely based on her daughter's journey with the monster.

Crank, Ellen Hopkins
I really became a huge fan of Ellen Hopkins, when I read her first book Crank. I really enjoyed the story line and I could never put the book down until I had finished the whole story. This story line has very many different interest. Such as, teenage love, school drama, family drama, peer pressure, drugs and alchol. Everything a teenager goes through during the highschool years. If you are looking for a story with these kind of interests, Ellen Hopkins is the author for you. In this story, Kristina is the perfect daughter. She is a junior. She is very shy and a quiet girl. She is the kind of girl that has the reputation of never have gotten into trouble in her life. The summer comes around and Kristina decides to go spend the summer with her father. Here she meets the monster. A hard core drug. At first she thinks it is amazing, a joy. The next thing she knows it is a struggle for her life, for her soul, and for her mind. While over the summer, at her fathers, she changes her name to Bree. She gives into peer pressure and begins to get hooked on drugs and sex. But on the flip side. Bree falls in love with a boy. Through this book, Kristina has to find herself again, and get through her punishments from the decisions she has made. This book has very good details, at one moment you get the chills, the next you want to scream, and the you find yourself smiling and laughing. Crank is written in verse. It is a fast and easy read. I would give this book a 10 out of 10. I think it is outstanding and I would recommend Crank to anyone!