To celebrate Banned Books Week 2011, the library will be posting reviews and commentary from college staff about their favorite banned books and why during the celebration.
By Marcia Lee
Serials Specialist
From the first day I opened Crank, I was sucked into the story Ellen Hopkins brought to life before my eyes; it was one full of twists & turns. The style which Hopkins chose to write this book has made the reading go by at a much quicker pace than most other books I’ve read. She did not fill page after page with sentences, like a typical book, she wrote very abstractly –becoming more distorted as the narrator Kristina changed from good girl to the drug addict, Bree. Writing from Kristina’s point of view allowed readers to enter her world from the inside, so that all of her thoughts were laid out.
The story is essentially a tale of a good girl gone bad, however you find yourself feeling sorry for her since a lot of her change stems from the environment she is growing up in. Drugs, sex and family problems are key factors intertwined through the plot and trigger Kristina’s downward spiral. Growing up obsessed with Disney Princesses and Prince Charming, I read the book hoping that it would close with a happily ever after. To my dismay, it ends with the reality that “once an addict, always an addict,” this ending by no means leaves the reader feeling uplifted, but instead reminds them that real life isn’t a fairytale either. For this reason, I think that it not only shouldn’t have been places on this banned list, but should be available for young people to read and be exposed to situations they could face or do face everyday.
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