This week's topic was the narrative poetry. I picked Crank because it's so popular among high school students.
Summary:
The novel is the author's attempt to understand her daughter's addiction to meth and is written from the daughter's perspective. Kristina goes to stay with her dad for a few weeks during the summer. Her father lives in a small apartment, which is much different from her mom's large suburban house. He works at a bowling alley and does a lot of recreational drugs. It is not surprising that Kristina starts doing meth while staying with her father. When she returns home she seems to find a new group of friends who drink and use drugs. The novel looks at her addiction to the "Monster."
Reflection:
For me, the value in this book is that although it's written entirely in poetry, it's widely read by teens, which means that kids are picking up and reading through, and loving 500 pages of poetry-- pretty awesome. Critics of the novel complain that it romanticizes drug use, but personally, I think it constructs a pretty bleak view of the meth addict. I would like to read some of her other novels, and I believe they are all written in verse. Hopkins' style is not my personal favorite, but reading and discussing this book made me realize that students need chances to read what they like.
Here are my art picks.
Addiction by GeekGirlyPhotography and Vintage Roadside Bowl by RetroPhotography.
Summary:
The novel is the author's attempt to understand her daughter's addiction to meth and is written from the daughter's perspective. Kristina goes to stay with her dad for a few weeks during the summer. Her father lives in a small apartment, which is much different from her mom's large suburban house. He works at a bowling alley and does a lot of recreational drugs. It is not surprising that Kristina starts doing meth while staying with her father. When she returns home she seems to find a new group of friends who drink and use drugs. The novel looks at her addiction to the "Monster."
Reflection:
For me, the value in this book is that although it's written entirely in poetry, it's widely read by teens, which means that kids are picking up and reading through, and loving 500 pages of poetry-- pretty awesome. Critics of the novel complain that it romanticizes drug use, but personally, I think it constructs a pretty bleak view of the meth addict. I would like to read some of her other novels, and I believe they are all written in verse. Hopkins' style is not my personal favorite, but reading and discussing this book made me realize that students need chances to read what they like.
Here are my art picks.
Addiction by GeekGirlyPhotography and Vintage Roadside Bowl by RetroPhotography.
Noted Themes and Questions
What is so fascinating about this book is that it looks at drug use from the addict's perspective so that the reader is able to see inside the mind of a teenage drug addict. In this way, the reader is able to gain at least some understanding about why addicts continue to get high even when they know it's harming them. One of the other things that stands out about the book is the fact that although Kristina's parents are divorced, she comes from a very "normal" upper-middle class background. Her mother is around and is concerned. I think that people often stereotype Meth addicts and drug addicts in general, so perhaps this novel promotes some understanding.
Student Reaction
I know that Hopkins is really popular at George Washington, where my husband teaches. I also saw a teenager reading it on the plane recently. Its popularity among high school students is one of the reasons I chose it for our week on narrative poetry.
Grade
I would say 10th and up because of all the graphic content. I wouldn't give this book to a middle school student.
*For interested parties, the other book choices for this week were Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate and Sold by Patricia McCormick. Sold sounds really good. I'll have to read it over the break (along with 50 other books).
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