What ever happened when Kristina Snow had Hunter? What happened when the people who raised Kristina were basically forced to raise her son Hunter? Well you see that’s what this book is all about. Hunter, Autumn, & Summer. All affected by the monster. The monster that had taken over there once bubbly, and smart mom. This is their story.

Hunter Seth Haskins, the oldest, who is probably most affected by the monster. The boy who grew up calling his grandparents mom and dad. He calls it his mixed up- messed up family. The boy who is now all grown up himself. This story follows him through relationships, his career in radio and finally meeting his father. He goes through seeing his mother again and finding out there is more to just life than drugs and even though his mother wasn’t there for him doesn’t mean he cannot be there when he has kids. During the book, Hunter meets his real dad (A lifeguard at a pool when Kristina was 17 named Brendan). It was difficult for Hunter to hold back his feelings for Brendan when he found out Brendan raped Kristina and that is how Hunter is here today. But in the end it wasn’t bad!

Autumn Rose Shepherd, the second oldest who doesn’t even know her mother. Autumn is personally my favorite. She lives with her grandfather and Aunt Cora in Texas. She has OCD which plays a big role in her life. Her father is Trey. Trey met Kristina through the monster of course. Trey and Kristina were in love. They were lovers and drug dealers, all wrapped into one. Before Autumn was born, Kristina and Trey still did drugs until they got busted and went to jail where Kristina had Autumn. That is how Autumn now lives with here grandfather and aunt. They are Trey’s part of the family. Anyways, through the book you see how Autumn gets her first love, reconnects with her dad and the brothers and sisters you never knew she had.

Summer Lily Kenwood, the youngest daughter of Kristina, the middle child. Summer vists her mom (Kristina) who now lives in Las Vegas. Even though Summer jumps from foster home to foster home she ends up living with her dad who is a druggie until she meets Kyle. Kyle has big dreams. He wants himself and Summer to travel and get a place together and everything is all right until the car crash. Then their dreams were over. But that is where her story also began.

Hunter, Autumn and Summer, all end up in Reno with there youngest brothers Donald and David. Autumn and Summer didn’t know they existed or that they had brothers or sisters of any sort. But on that Christmas Day, Kristina, Hunter, Autumn, Summer, Donald & David can pretend at least for the day to be a family, like it should have been from the start.

This book is my personal favorite out of the Crank Trilogy by Ellen Hopkins. I like being able to see how the monster that Kristina was introduced to many years, has effected so many lives and to see how even though their birth mom has made some wrong decisions in the past they can overcome it and be a better person than she was. I believe that Ellen Hopkins chose the title Fallout because it reflects on what Kristina did with her children. This book is partly fiction and partly non-fiction. Hunter is real and so is Kristina. Ellen was writing about he daughter and her grandson even though their names have been change. Kristina’s real name is Cristal and Hunters name is Orion. Orion is now currently 14.

Other than the Crank Trilogy, Ellen Hopkins has wrote many other books including, Burned, Impulse, Tricks, Identical, and Perfect which is coming out in 2011.

Ellen’s writing style is very different from that of other authors. She writes in a way that makes it short, to the point but also very detailed. The books are sort of like Poems. I have read all of her books because I love her style of writing and the way she puts the horrible things in her life into view of many other people who are deal with the same things.
Favorite Quotes from the book:
“We Hear Life Was Good Before She Met The Monster”
“The Monster Shaped Our Lives Without Even Touching It”
By Hunter: “I am genetically predisposed to addiction. At least that is what they tell me. Over and Over.”
By Summer: “They don’t call it the monster for nothing. It chews people up, spits em’ out. Often unsalvageable.
By Autumn: “Trains like this generally wreck sooner or later.”