Crank, Ellen Hopkins
9/10 - 40 min., 9/11 - 30 min., 9/12 - 40 min., 9/15 - 40 min.
Total: 150 min. pp. 225-511
Kristina is nonexistent. Bree has taken over. Page by page as I was reading, I couldn't help but criticize her. She has her whole future ahead of her... she is an all-A student, has loving parents, has good friends, and is really pretty. But she didn't think about anything else besides crack. I felt remorseful for her. She had such a bright future, and she could've been so successful. When she realized she was six-weeks pregnant, I couldn't help but blame Bree. I didn't blame Brendan, the guy who raped her. I blamed Bree... no, I hated Bree... which is odd, considering I have never hated the main character in a book. I was extremely surprised to find that she was going to keep the baby instead of having an abortion. I felt sorry for Bree, but mostly for her baby.
Although I hated to see her make those mistakes, the book grasped me into the story. I often wondered what would happen next, being that the book is full of surprises. I have yet to come across a dull moment. I really like how Hopkins wrote the book - using the verses on the pages to morph a picture that related to what the words were saying. She also includes marks that indicate cigarette or ash marks to create a deeper acknowledgment of Bree and how she's telling this story.
Christine, I think you might enjoy Jim Carroll's _The Basketball Diaries_. Be warned it deals with some tough issues similar to the ones in your last two books. It is from the real diaries of poet/musician Jim Carroll when he was a teenager in the late 1970s.
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