Title: Crank
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Format: Paperback
Pages: 544
Genre: Young adult, verse fiction
Published: Simon & Schuster UK
Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: a gifted student, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is a total opposite to Kristina - she's fearless.
Through a boy she meets, Bree is introduced to the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul and, ultimately, her life.
Kristina is good, straight-A student until she goes to stay with her father, who she hasn't seen for a number of years. There, Kristina disappears with her alter-ego, Bree, taking her place. Bree's confident and out-going, doesn't think twice about talking to boys she doesn't know. It's one of these boys, Adam, who introduces her to the drug, crank.
It's Bree who returns home, although she tries to hide it from her mother and step-father. Before long Bree's running around with a couple of different boys, using crank on a regular basis and getting in all kinds of trouble.
Crank isn't an easy book to read, it doesn't hold back on any aspect of Bree's drug use. Written in verse, it delves deep into her emotions and it draws you right in. Bree might not be a loveable character but she's definitely an interesting one. Certainly not a book for younger kids but one that older teens are likely to relate to and it's definitely not going to have them wanting to run off and 'meet the monster' for themselves.
