Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

Has anyone read anything by Ellen Hopkins? I just finished Identical and loved it. I had never read a book in verse form so it was something new for me. Took a bit to get used to but I ended up falling in love with it. I think she is amazingly talented. What books have you read by her and what did you think?

Her newest book is "Tricks" which came out in August. I have not read it yet, but a friend whose opinion I trust liked it enough that it immediately went on to be read list!

I just read Crank last week. Holy cow. Remind me to remind everyone I know never to do drugs! It was INTENSE.

I do want to check her out and am interested in what people liked. I almost grabbed Identical from the library, but didn't get it. A few of my students find her amazing.

I just finished Tricks today and thought it was interesting. I have read all her books. I was surprised when I picked the first one up in the library and I was sketchy at first. I really love Crank and Glass the best!

I love Ellen Hopkins' writing. My favorite thus far is Impulse, but I haven't read Identical or Tricks yet. I can't wait until Fallout is released - I think that the kids' perspectives on Kristina's drug use will be really interesting.

I've only read Identical, which I also liked (I can't say enjoyed as that word doesn't seem to fit given the subject) but she is very talented.

I have read Crank and its sequel Glass and they are both so intense, thought provoking and real! I hope to read some of her others soon.

I just finished Crank and it's scary! It really makes you think about things, and it definitely does a better job than Go Ask Alice making drugs look super unappealing!

Idaho (where I live) has one of the highest Meth rates in the country, and so they've started an anti-meth campaign to try and combat this. They've printed magazine adds, billboards, posters, TV and Radio commercials etc. trying to show why Meth is bad and they are SCARY! Meth is a really nasty drug, probably one of the worst because it is so instantly addicting.

Studies have shown that the anit-meth campaign is working, but wow... I wish that no one had to go through this! (If you want to see the site, you can click here: Idaho Meth Project

Ellen Hopkins is a brilliant writer. She can say a lot with very few words. I absolutely love the poems within the poems. (The words that stick off to the side that give a whole new insight to how Kristina/Bree is really feeling)

I just finished reading Glass, and I am SO beyond grateful I've never been involved with drugs. Meth is seriously freaky.

I really like that neither of these books does anything to lie about or glorify the drug. It admits that, at least initially, the high is great, but makes it beyond clear that everything that comes after is NOT worth it. Ugh...

I agree that Crank scared me quite a bit too. I think it's a great book for teens to read.. to see what it really does to you and other consequences besides. Both of my sisters-in-law who are in high school love Hopkins books and I'm certainly glad they've read them.

I finished Impulse and it was my first Hopkins book. Let me say that this will not be my last book by her. The book was so wonderful, but at times hard to read because of the situations that she writes about. However, I now have a better understanding of what goes through these teen's minds. The prose and tones of the book were well written. I can't wait to read more!

I just finished Fallout, the third book in the Crank trilogy. Absolutely riveting, while being stunningly terrifying. I will make my children read these books in 6th or 7th grade. This is something that can only be thwarted by fear, and I think these books do a great job of chronicling the downward spiral of meth addiction, and the eventual aftermath. Ellen Hopkins did a fantastic job in her portrayal. I only wish she didn't have to have the experience to back up her story.

Last night I finished Burned. I have also read Tricks. Burned was about a Mormon teen, Pattyn, whose father is abusive towards her, her mother, and her siblings. Pattyn begins questioning how a faith can allow that to happen and when she doesn't get the answers or help she's looking for, she rebels. She is then sent to live with an Aunt who has given up the Mormon faith, but gives Pattyn her first sense of what family really is.

Burned was surprisingly less harsh and horrifying than Tricks in many ways. Of course, with Hopkins, there certainly is no fairy tale, and nothing ends happily ever after, but a good chunk of Burned has happy moments of self discovery for Pattyn. I, like Ashley, love the poems within the poem, and think Hopkins is incredibly talented for being able to compose 2 poems in 1.

Without giving anything away on Burned- holy cow what an ending! Sad, gutwrenching, and thrilling all at once. I'm glad there is (or soon will be) a sequel, because I'd like to spend more time with Pattyn and see what becomes of her and her family.

Jennifer W wrote: "Last night I finished Burned. I have also read Tricks. Burned was about a Mormon teen, Pattyn, whose father is abusive towards her, her mother, and her siblings. Pattyn..."

Burned is my favourite Hopkins book to-date and I have read them all. Don't get me wrong, they are all just as amazing, but I felt the characters were so real that they could have been my classmates.

The Crank trilogy is another very powerful one.

I am eager for her next novel, a sequel of sorts to Impulse.

I'm currently reading Fallout, otherwise I've read all her books. Impulse is probably my favorite. My chest siezed up and I couldn't breathe for several minutes when I found out about the sequel. I think out of all her books I found Burned to be the most depressing, so I'm wondering what the sequel to that one will be like.

I've read a few of her books. Identical was my favourite by far, the ending was so shocking.
Crank was good, too but I thought Glass was a bit repetitive. I'm looking forward to Fallout though because the narration changes in this one.
I also read Burned which was good but it didn't impress me as much, probably because I had read 2 other books about the mormon culture before that already.

Infinite Playlist wrote: "I've read a few of her books. Identical was my favourite by far, the ending was so shocking.
Crank was good, too but I thought Glass was a bit repetitive. I'm looking forward to Fallout though beca..."

Identical is my favorite as well! Partly, I think, because it was my first, but also because it's simply brilliant!

It is and it was my first, too. I listened to the audiobook (I didn't even know it was written in verse) and it worked just as well, very well read.