Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I just finished Crank a couple of minutes ago and it was interesting but I didn't really love the topic. Crank is written by Ellen Hopkins and it is about a girl named Kristina Georgia Snow who struggles through her teen years to crank which is more commonly known as a drug called methamphetamine. Before crank, Kristina was a smart, quiet and a normal teen but when she takes a trip to visit her dad in New Mexico, she is introduced to boys, crank and "Bree" who begins to take over her life.
In the beginning of the book, I was really confused who Kristina was and who was. Later I realized that Kristina struggled with a dual personality conflict. Kristina is the quiet, perfect, reserved and obedient little angel that never breaks any rules and Bree is the complete opposite. She is fearless, aggressive, care-free, daring, wild, promiscuous and fun. Kristina was so contained and restrained from a free lifestyle that she allowed "Bree" to take over her because of her curiosity, desire to do what she wants when she wants, and desire to be unrestrained from rules and regulations. But of course, there's a price that must be paid and Kristina's life begins to go down the drain. She faces the irresistability of crank (and other drugs), the highs and lows of using drugs, the experimentation with sex which eventually leads to a rape, unhealthy relationships with her family and friends, excessively smoking, unplanned pregnancy, horrible relationships with her mother and peers, struggle to keep up with her grades and all the negative effects of using drugs.
The genre of this book is poetry and I was surprised to see how affective the book was. One part that stood out was when Kristina internally thinks to herself, "Who loved me more?/ Who loved me most" and I think this quote really summed up the reason people go looking for trouble and that's because they are lost and they look for love in the wrong places. I feel like this was a common theme for people; that they look for something to fill their happiness and that's why they involve themselves with alcohol, sex and drugs. Kristina's parents are divorced, her family is quite broken and she was probably in desperation of breaking the chains that stopped her from doing what a typical teen does (party, boyfriends, fun, feeling beautiful and sexy, wanted and more importantly loved).

Personally, I think all girls can relate to having a tough time growing up with their mothers because now their little girls are starting to have their own opinions and they are starting to become more independent and it's hard for them to let go of the child who is transforming into a young lady.

This book is definitely one that puts the reader in the position of a teenager and the book flies by because the pages are very short.