Crank #2
by Ellen Hopkins
Nikki’s Rating: 5 out of 10
Summary: Kristina has gotten clean. Clean from the crank, glass, ice, crystal, meth. She did this for her son. But now that he is born and they no longer share the same body, the monster calls. Believing that she can control her usage, Kristina goes back to meth and things begin to spiral. But this time it is not just her, she may destroy her son’s life as well.
5 Gratifying Things about GLASS by Ellen Hopkins
(May Contain Spoilers)
1. Poetry
Ellen Hopkins’s has a unique writing style of her own in which she tells the story in free verse style poetry. Sometimes the structures of the poems will create shapes or other words. Also, some poems could be read not only left to right but also other directions. This allowed multiple thoughts and feelings to be expressed on a single page.
2. Rationalizations
The concepts that one can “control” the drug, that they will only “try a little”, or that they can be around it without using are all very common thoughts amongst addicts that have gotten clean. Hopkins really captures these thinking processes and also how easy it is for an addict to believe it and then get caught up in the drug again.
3. LGBTQ+
As like many other Ellen Hopkins novels, “Glass” includes side characters who identify as LGBTQ+.
4. User to Dealer
Another easy trap for addicts is going from simply a user to dealing drugs and then looking at an immensely longer prison sentence and this is beautifully illustrated in “Glass”.
5. Chaos
“Glass” clearly shows the chaos, damage, and pain that drugs cause on not just the addict but the addicts’ friends and family. Disturbing to read but so worth it.
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