Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins’ book, Impulse, is a book about three troubled teens whose troubled lives have landed them in a hospital where they are attending therapy to deal with their close encounters with death and harming themselves. The book tells the main stories of three of the patients. Tony tries to forget about his painful childhood and being a gay guy who tried to commit suicide. Vanessa keeps a secret from the group and her own family that keeps her going back to cutting herself to try and forget. Conner, the perfect boy, seems to have the perfect life but hides his struggles with his parents, his friends, himself and his obsession with a young girl that led him to try and pull the trigger. These three teens try to deal with their issues and try to let go of all their bad and dangerous habits. This helps them deal with trying to forget their painful lives and save themselves. Here in the hospital they are given a second chance to start over and learn how to cope and deal with their issues and go back to the real world and start living their lives once again in a healthier way. If you’re interested in finding out more in detail what led these teens to go to such extremes just to end their lives then read the book Impulse.

Jazmin A.

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Sold is a novel about a 13 year-old girl (Lakshmi) who is sold into prostitution. She faces many challenges and obstacles she has to overcome. Lakshmi is forced out of her comfort zone during almost the whole story. During this time, she grows not only in knowledge but as a person herself. She learns many different things about herself in this experience she was forced to endure. Lakshmi‘s story begins in a small rural town in the country. Her family is used to living in poverty to the point where they mix water and dirt in order to trick their minds into believing it is food. Lakshmi has always been able to endure the toughest of times. Things took a turn for the worst when her step father could no longer support their family and sold Lakshmi. Lakshmi had no say in this but was told she would be a house maid. She didn't seem frightened by the idea of being stripped away from her family because she knew it was for their own good. She would now be able to buy her family that tin roofed house about which they always dreamed. Lakshmi was sold for 10,000 rupees, which translates to a whopping 185.25 US Dollars…fair trade right? Lakshmi’s childhood, dreams and aspirations were changed all for under 200 dollars. Read the book to find out more about Laskima's story.

Erika M.

Glass by Ellen Hopkins

The book “Glass” is a gut wrenching experience all high schoolers should read. It is the sequel to “Crank” which follows the story of a meth addict named Kristina. This story is gut wrenching and it makes you never want to put the book down.

I liked this book because the story was exciting. It is the story of a high school girl who becomes addicted to meth. It is very compelling for me because I have lost friends to drugs. It allows me to relate to it. I also liked that the book was written in verse. It is really cool and this 680 page book reads like a 250 page book. I think other students will like this book because it is easy to relate to it and it is a dark, thrilling story.

Alex P.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I enjoyed this book because each and every page kept my interest. It is about a teenage girl who goes through difficult changes in her life because of the drugs she chose to use. Drugs started taking over her life. This book makes you want to never try any of the drugs the main character in the book did. Ellen Hopkins is a writer of poetry, so if you are looking for a different style of reading, this is it! It is a fast read and you will not want to put the book down. Also, there is a sequel  to this book if you want to see more of the main character's life and more of the changes she undergoes because of drugs! READ CRANK and GLASS (the sequel) TOO!!

Chelsey W.

Glass by Ellen Hopkins

Glass is the sequel to Crank. I really enjoyed reading Crank and I liked the main character, Kristina, so I decided to read Glass. Kristina starts out drug free in Glass but she meets a new guy who is a bad influence on her. Because of this new guy in her life, she gets sucked back into drug use. She tries to convince herself she isn't addicted but she can't stop using drugs. I think others would like Glass because there is always something bad happening to Kristina so it is hard to stop reading. Also, the style of writing makes it a very fast read.

Taylor T.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I like this book because it is about a girl, Kristina, who is in high school, just like I am. She has identity issues and she doesn't really know who she is. She has two personalities; one of them is a good student and caring and the other is thoughtless of others and does bad things. I liked Crank because Kristina is about my age and she gets introduced to bad boys and drugs. She has many struggles throughout the book and it makes it a good book to read because of her struggles. I think others would like this book because they might be able to relate to Kristina and the events that happen in her life.

Taylor T.

Frenchtown Summer by Robert Cormier

"That summer in Frenchtown in the days when I knew my name but did not know who I was". This quote, from the beginning of Frenchtown, is important because the main character is saying he is in that town but nobody really seems to notice him. The character's name in this book is not mentioned because he is the narrator. He talks about what happens in the town in which he lives. The name of the town this young kid lives in is Frenchtown. He lives on the second floor of the three-decker on Fourth Street. At the beginning of this book the narrator talks about his family. He has a brother named Raymond who is popular and every body knows his name. The kid feels like a ghost next to his brother since everybody knows Raymond. His father is a hard working man and his mother is a house mother. Like most of the people in this world who have aunts and uncles, so does the narrator. In the middle of the book he talks about his aunt who lost a baby just as he is born. Also, his uncle is not really a caring person; he just kept going on with his life. The narrator talks about his crush on a beautiful Sister who taught him how to play the piano; that's how the narrator started liking her. Eventually, the Sister had to go back to the Convent. Another thing that happens to the narrator is when he got his first pair of glasses. I really recommend this book to people who like to read poems, mystery, adventure and suspense books. This book, for me, was kind of related to the book of Anne Frank. I think they are related because the two kids wrote about their every day lives and their adventures in the form of a diary. If you liked to read the book of Anne Frank I am pretty sure you will like A Summer in Frenchtown.

Belen C.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I liked this book because it was about a teenage girl who changed completly in only three weeks. The book was interesting because it is about a girl my age and how, as a teenager, you're open to a lot of new things, like drugs. This type of book is an attention getter. I never wanted to put it down!!

Tyler M.