What do you think of when someone says monster? To me, I think of big, hairy monsters that live under your bed. To Kristina, monster means meth, or crank. Kristina is a junior, innocent girl that moves in with her dad for the summer. Her parents have been divorced for some time. Her mother, Marie is distant and is in a midlife crisis. Her stepfather, Scott is strict and has high expectations for her. Her big sister, Leigh is gay and looked down upon by her parents. Her little brother Jake is spoiled.
Kristina seems to have a dissociative identity disorder or some type of personality disorder, because she has an inner voice called Bree. Although, she says, “I’m no more schizo than most” (page 8) when she’s explaining Bree.
Bree is loud,
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This book was very graphic and went into detail about Kristina being raped. It was difficult to read this portion of the book and some teens may feel uncomfortable with it.
In the Article Banned Books #9 Crank by Ellen Hopkins, Beth says “I could understand the reasons for it being challenged when published in 2001. I admit that I am vehemently anti-drugs and although I agree wholeheartedly that there should be more education about what is out there, at points it felt like the more pleasurable parts of taking drugs was focused on” (Reads.)
This book was about a young girl, making poor life decisions and it’s effects. The pros to this book include learning possible life lessons from Kristina’s choices. The cons to this book include the chance of offending someone that has had a family member with a drug addiction or offending a rape victim.
I think the book shouldn’t be banned just because it’s graphic. Teens experience a variety of situations outside of school and by banning them from reading this book is unnecessary. We shouldn’t hinder them from learning the possible havoc of having this