Meth, Abuse, and Abandonment! (OH MY!)

I used this writing standard: 11.R.2.2 reading standard where students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I have been reading the book Fallout by Ellen Hopkins. I haven't got very far into the book yet, but I plan to do a project of some sort that portrays Hopkins' writing style. I also plan to give 3-week by 3-week intervals of what's been happening throughout the book, sharing comments on certain ideas/happenings from the book. Along with my project, I plan to do some research on her and why she writes about what she does.

Firstly, Hopkins has a writing style so unique compared to other authors. Actually, you could consider her more of a poet. Hopkins is also the author of Crank, a book of hers that people may be more familiar with. People are easily intimidated by the 650-page books she writes, but in all actuallity, the 3-4 inch-thick books are pretty quick reads. Instead of using normal paragraphs, she creates story through free verse poetry, and sometimes makes things even more intricate by creating illusions with her words. (Example: If she is talking about money, she forms her poem into a dollar sign).

Some people aren't so fond of her books because they tend to be rather morbid. Her first novel, Crank, is about a girl who gets hooked on meth and becomes far more distant towards her family. Another novel, Tricks, is about 4 different people living completely different lives in Las Vegas, but all being connected somehow. This book, Fallout, is actually a sequel to Crank. Crank came first, then Glass, and now Fallout. (Sorry for confusion).

So far, this book talks about the 3 of the 5 children of Kristina, the main girl from Crank who gets addicted to meth and ends up getting raped by this seriously jerk-like guy, then getting pregnant with his baby. Anyways, this book goes back and forth between the 3 kids: Hunter, Autumn, and Summer. Hunter is a guy who is living a wild college life, while dating this supposedly awesome girl. He wants to find out why his mom left him with his grandparents and never bothered to care. Autumn an extremely self-conscience girl, living with her aunt and alcoholic grandfather. She has some OCD, and a few other problems, including her prision-ridden father. Summer is a girl who finds it hard to live up to her name. She's a foster kid who basically has to look out for the "family" because her fostermom doesn't really seem to care. Where I just left of in my story is when Summer gets in a nasty fight with her "sister" after standing up for her younger "sibling" because she violated her.

I feel like some people don't grasp the concepts of these stories in the same way I do, hence why I enjoy them more than most. I feel like reading about the morbidity of other's lives (to be blunt) makes me appreciate what I have so much more. It makes me want to strive to do better and help others stay away from any related or non-related problems.