Book review: Crank

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Kristina is 17 and quiet when she goes to visit her father for a few weeks in the summer. She meets Adam in her father's apartment building and quickly becomes involved with him - and with the drug crystal meth, which she calls "the monster." Kristina quickly becomes addicted to both meth and Adam and returns home brokenhearted and high.

That's only the beginning. Kristina, who now calls herself Bree and is more aggressive and flirtatious, makes new friends and finds new ways to get drugs at home to feed her addiction. She'll do just about anything to get another high, and what she does and is forced to do will change her life forever.

Crank is powerful. It's written in free verse from Kristina's point of view, and the author knows what she's talking about as Kristina is based on her own daughter's experience of addiction. Once I picked this up I got so caught up in Kristina's experience that I couldn't put it down. If you at all curious what drug addiction can do and how powerful a hold it can have on your mind and body, read this book.

About Crank and its author, Ellen Hopkins.

Information about crystal meth.