Burn by Ellen Hopkins

                Burned by Ellen Hopkins was, in my opinion, the best of her series she has written. I do not like that book at all, I LOVE it. Pattyn Von Stratten is the protagonist on the story. Through the whole book I had empathy for her. I felt her pain, frustration, happiness, and all of her different emotions, she had a lot of them too. While I’m reading the book my mom and sisters would walk by and look at me like I was crazy because of the things I would do, maybe a little too interested in it. What I dislike is nothing, everything from start to finish I was on constantly the edge of my seat.

            What I liked about the book Burned is the way Hopkins set the story up; she had everything set in the right place. I thought the plot was in the middle, like the usual of most books. The breath-taking, shocked, leave you with your mouth opened so big you can catch a fly moment is the last few pages of the book. When you think Hopkins is just wrapping it up telling how Pattyn finally found the happiness she has been looking for, it changes your view point completely. What I usually dislike about Ellen Hopkins books, she did a complete 180 on this one. She usually drags the story on leaving you uninterested when you think you’re about to give up on the book that’s when the good part starts until you realized you’ve finished the whole book.

            If it was most people they would have put the book down, but I always read through because I never want to start something and not finish it. Burned had me thinking (just from the title) this book must be about a person who is always strung out on drugs and life is too much or bad for them. Most likely, a teenage age boy or girl that’s because that’s what she talked about in the two books I read from her previous work. I take a guess about what the book is going to be like based on the title, the saying “never judge a book by its cover” has finally made use to my life.

If I could, I would recommend this book to my fellow peers. my high school peers only though, there is a lot of language talk a few about sex that I would not want my little sister to read, let alone someone else’s sister/ brother to read. Most of the high school kids at McKeel have already read the Ellen Hopkins series. I was convinced by a friend to read it and once I knew it I was almost finished reading the whiles series. I love the characters, setting, plots, etc. My favorite character of all was Aunt Janette. She never judge Pattyn on anything she did and taught her a lot of what her wouldn’t due to it was not a women’s role.

• Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?

-         Some parts did make me feel uncomfortable. The way Pattyn was telling what the main role was suppose, expected to do made me so happy and blessed of my views and beliefs. The basic saying “a women’s role is in the kitchen and birthing babies” is what is expected of a Mormon wife. I never knew graduating from high school, going to college to be someone in life would not happen for a lot of women due to the fact that they are women in some religions.

• What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

-         Pattyn was in this very hostile, could not talk to her mother or ask questions like any girl should ask her mother. Her father was too strict and didn’t like Pattyn rebelling ways. Her environment change from changing diapers and cleaning, she was the eldest out of the children, meaning she was the most responsible one. To living with Aunt Janette and getting to be the kid she never was while living with her parents.

Words count: 661

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

                Crank by Ellen Hopkins is like no other book I’ve read. Not only the style, but also the way it was written. I never knew one poem with few words and sentences could mean more to a story. Hopkins told this story with more meaning and description in her few poems, than a fully written book. The story is overall amazing at first you think Christina (the main character) was a real goodie two shoes, but it’s so much more that is to the story. The down side, I didn’t like is when at first reading an Ellen Hopkins book I didn’t know how to read it.  I was a little confused and frustrated by the way the poems were written; also the beginning was a little boring. 

            As I kept reading, it kept getting better and I understood how to read the book. I really did not have a lot of dislikes about Crank at all. I would recommend this book to my peers, but they probably already read Crank and the other series books it was really popular last year. It is a first of 3 books. I took a chance of reading a Ellen Hopkins book, and I’m happy I did. It goes to show girls that you don’t have to do anything to get a boy’s attention. Now Christina is hooked to the most addicting drug in the United States: Meth a.k.a crank. She is addicted to something that will bring her though absolute hell. She is now trapped in a world she cannot escape at all. I would inform more high school females due to the language content and overall content of what is happening. It would not be appropriate for anyone younger.

1.    Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?

                       Certain stories within Crank did make me feel uncomfortable. When she describes how she needled meth through her veins in her arm. The very thought of it was too much for me. She also told how she snorted, needled, and smoke it. I couldn’t even imagine what that is like, especially that type of drug where it is so addicting, the first try you’re most likely already addicted. Out of it all the most uncomfortable part for me is when Christina’s “boyfriend” took her virginity by force because she was under the influence of drugs. That section is one of the reasons why I wouldn’t tell the younger ones about this book. That left her emotionally scarred.

2.      How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

             Crank is the book where the main character changed the most out of any book I’ve ever read. Christina was the smart, quiet, reserved; but had many friends type of girl. She lived in the suburbs of California she got everything she asked for.  Until she decided to take a summer trip to meet and spend time with her dad. Her mom left him because he wasn’t doing anything with himself and she didn’t want him around her daughter. Christina was 16 years old now and wanted to meet her dad; he lived in Las Vegas, single and worked in a bowling alley.  He was still doing crank after all these years later. While staying with her dad Christina met a boy name Adam who she liked and when they met he introduced her to her monster meth. You would think her dad would keep her away from him because he knew Adam wasn’t doing anything for himself and smoked? No, he was snorting alongside his daughter and her boyfriend. She went from the average girl to a meth addict in one summer.    

Word count: 590

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars was written by Sara Sheppard. Pretty Little Liars is the first of an eight book series. What I like about the book is the mystery it holds, the author kept the book unpredictable which is what I like to read, not a typical book with an already told ending. You have to keep reading to unfold the entire story and that’s what keeps you hooked. What I didn’t like was the not needed parts, it just made the book kind of boring sometimes until you got to a good part. Would I recommend this book to my peers? Yes, I would to a particular crowd of teenage girls due to the drama and the four main characters are females. Teenagers due to the language and some of the content would not be appropriate for a younger crowd.    

• What specific themes did the author emphasize throughout the novel? What do you think he or she is trying to get across to the reader?

A specific theme I would agree with is mystery, because while you think this person is the one you continue to read your mind changes and it just keeps you in suspense and this is just the first book so you have to read the whole series to put the pieces together. Pretty Little Liar keeps you guessing and confused almost, Will they ever find out what really happens? Who is in trouble? So I’m waiting to read the next book Flawless to find out even more. What Sara Sheppard is trying to get across in my opinion is to not judge a person by the looks, but by their character. Also never listen to one side of a story, there is always two sides.

• Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

The characters of Pretty Little Liars change from their middle school years to their high school years. They were “nobodies” before Alison took the four of them under her wing. Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily were the “It” girls of Roseday Prep. The events of Alison coming up missing while they were in middle school, to a person name A who always seem to come around to communicate with the four girls when they have done something wrong. A will tell on them if they say anything about Ali’s disappearance. They become paranoid, less social because they never knew who was watching them. I could not relate to these girls at all because they have everything handed to them on a silver platter and have to meet expectations that I won’t have to worry about.  They are doing things I will never want the karma of those events.

Word Count: 466