Crank, by Ellen Hopkins, is a novel about teenage dilemmas. In this case, a girl named Kristina visits her dead-beat father in Albuquerque, New Mexico, leaving her mother, stepfather, lesbian sister, and brother behind. While in New Mexico, she meets a guy named Adam (Buddy) who introduces Kristina to crank, revealing Bree, her other personality. She eventually has to depart from Albuquerque and return home with her newly found addiction. She ends up meeting another guy and having a good relationship, which turns around when her addiction gets worse and she gets raped by another guy and bears his child. Kristina’s life completely turns around when she is introduced to crank, and of course Bree.
I think that Ellen Hopkins was really trying to say that it is only human nature to give in to new things when one is missing something in their life. Kristina lived a pretty boring life back at home with the rest of her family. She wasn’t into drugs, she hadn’t had sex, and she didn’t really go out much with friends. It’s not like she hated her life, but she felt like she was missing something. When she went to New Mexico, she saw a great difference in how people lived their lives. Meeting Adam was already a new thing for her because she knew that she liked him right from the start. This guy introduced her to many new things such as sex and drugs. She probably wouldn’t have given so easily if she had more meaning in her life but most people are willing to try new things when they do not have that one thing stopping them.
In Looking for Alaska, Miles (Pudge) lives a pretty good life as a teenager. He tries really hard for a girl in his grade, but when things are starting to look very good for him, something very grave and dark happens. He lives in a new town; away from everything he left behind, trying really hard to forget about his losses. He starts smoking cigarettes and drinking because he knows he’s missing something in his life, making him very easily...