Smoke by Ellen Hopkins

August 3, 2014 by Christina

Fiction — print. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2006. 532 pgs. Library copy. Pattyn Von Stratten’s abusive father is dead, and Pattyn is on the run disguising her identity and living amongst immigrant communities who also fear the police. Only her sister Jackie knows what happened the night their father died, but Jackie is struggling to find her voice in a home where their mother clings to normalcy by allowing the truth of what happened to Jackie before her father’s death […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, Mountain West, North America, Poetry, United States, Young Adult • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Collateral by Ellen Hopkins

September 10, 2013 by Christina

Fiction — print. Atria Books, 2012. 512 pgs. Library copy. Ashley, a graduate student at San Diego State University, has spent the last five years of her life in a relationship with Cole, a Marine originally from Wyoming who has been deployed four times to the Middle East. He doesn’t fit into the stereotype Ashley has for military men — aggressive, unable to think for himself, emotionally distant/damaged — but the multiple deployments start to create cracks in their relationship […]

Categories: 2013 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, North America, Poetry, United States • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

June 11, 2011 by Christina

Hopkins, Ellen. Fallout. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010. 665 pgs. Library copy. The final book in Hopkin’s trilogy switches from Kristina’s point of view to that of her three oldest children — Hunter, Autumn, and Summer. The oldest, Hunter, lives with Kristina’s parents while Autumn lives with her paternal grandfather and Summer moves from foster care to living with her father to back to foster care. Kristina’s youngest two children, David and Donald, live with her and their […]

Categories: 2011 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, North America, Poetry, United States, Young Adult • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

October 28, 2010 by Christina

Fiction — print. Margaret K. McElderry, 2009. 627 pgs. Received from PaperBackSwap. Usually I enjoy Hopkin’s novels. The poetic prose manages to tackle drug use and other difficult topics in a way that seems but frightening — incredibly frightening — and beautiful at the same time. Her novels make me thankful for the life I lead and aware that one wrong turn could have sent me spiraling out of control  like the characters in her novels. That’s how real her […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, Mountain West, North America, Poetry, United States • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

February 25, 2009 by Christina

Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls. Raised in a religious — yet abusive — family, a simple dream may not be exactly a sin, but it could be the first step toward hell and eternal damnation. This dream is a first step for Pattyn. But it is to hell or to a better life? For the first time Pattyn starts asking questions. Questions seemingly without answers — about God, a woman’s role, sex, love — mostly love. […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, North America, Poetry, United States, Young Adult • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

February 24, 2009 by Christina

Fiction — print. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2007. 666 pgs. Library copy. Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act — suicide. Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade. Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills. And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, North America, Poetry, United States, Young Adult • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

February 20, 2009 by Christina

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family – on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that”s where their differences begin. For Kaeleigh, she’s the misplaced focus of Daddy’s love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites – […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, North America, Poetry, United States, Young Adult • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Glass by Ellen Hopkins

February 13, 2009 by Christina

When we last left Kristina/Bree in Crank, she had just given birth to her son, Hunter, and was optimistic that she could leave “the monster” behind and be a good mother to her son. But, funny thing about addictions, they’re just that – addicting. Glass makes a point of explaining – showing – what it means to be addicted to “the monster.” “Walking with the Monster Life was radical right after I met the monster. Later, life became harder, complicated. […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, North America, Poetry, United States, Young Adult • Tags: Ellen Hopkins

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

February 10, 2009 by Christina

I resisted Crank when it was first recommended to me by Helen. After all, why would I want to read a book about a teenager who starts doing crank, starts tangoing with “the monster” when there are other more uplifting novels out there? But after she pestered me to read it again, and the recommendation was second by a sophomore I know, I decided to give it a try. Crank is one of those books that just won’t leave you […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Chunkster, Fiction, North America, Poetry, United States, Young Adult • Tags: Ellen Hopkins