In Crank by Ellen Hopkins, Hopkins depicts the disturbing world of teen drug addiction in taboo detail. At the center of Crank is Kristina, a quiet, straight A, “good girl”. When Kristina visits her father who is a drug addict, her alter-ego, Bree, emerges. While staying with her father, Bree befriends Adam, a sexy “bad boy” with a history of drug use. He introduces Kristina to the “Monster:” meth.

When Kristina/Bree returns home to her mother, she is already deep in the clutches of the Monster. Back in Kristina’s world, Bree takes Kristina places no one ever thought she would go. Bree’s main goal is to provide a steady flow of crank, which leads to theft, youth detention, rape, and pregnancy. She then has to make the choice of whether or not to keep her baby, which is all told in gruesome detail.

Hopkins is a talented writer, but there’s something other than the quality of writing that makes her stand out. Crank is fiction, but it’s loosely based on the story of Hopkins’ own daughter.

Most Young Adult books don’t talk about meth addiction. If they do, they don’t cover it in much detail. Many parents would rather keep all teenagers and pre-teens in the dark about what happens when one becomes addicted. They tell teens “just say no” and think it works as a magic charm to keep them away from drugs.

Hopkins has a different idea of how to best keep teens away from drugs. She believes the best way to prevent addiction is to give teenagers all of the gritty details, and show them exactly what happens once you’ve touched the “monster.” Her idea is controversial, but I, as a teenager, have found it to be much more effective. As she says in the Author’s Note “If this story speaks to you, I have accomplished what I set out to do. Crank is, indeed, a monster-- one that is tough to leave behind once you invite it into your life. Think twice. Then think again.”

Although Crank deals with a gritty subject matter and Hopkins leaves little to the imagination, she writes the story with elegance; a striking contrast to the content. All her work is written in sculpted verse; poetry formatted to better express the emotional state of the main character. The verse is presented on the page to express different emotional and cognitive states, drawing the reader into the mind of Kristina/Bree.

This book is best suited for teenagers ages 13 to 20. This age-range will find the main character easier to identify with, and will be more interested in the story.

I read Crank when I was twelve and would have benefitted from discussing it with an adult. I think this is a good book for kids to read with their parents. It’s scary to broach this topic with grown-ups, but it’s worth the original awkwardness. Fiction is a great tool to open up discussions about “off-limit” subjects, and this book is no exception.

This book deserves a 5 star rating. It’s a tough read and emotionally challenging. But Crank is a contemporary masterpiece.