Ellen Hopkins is fast becoming a favorite author for me. Even though I don’t normally like novels told in verse, I do really enjoy hers. After reading Crank, I had to pick up Glass right away and find out what came next for Kristina in her fight against the ‘monster’ (crank – crystal meth). I’ve been completely taken by Kristina’s life and struggles with her drug addiction. At times I am horrified by her behavior but you have to stop and think it’s the drug causing her actions. It’s such a highly addictive drug and lifestyle once you’ve been sucked into it.
Kristina has been doing pretty good where the crank is concerned. She’s trying to take care of her son Hunter while living at home with her mother and working at the local 7-11. The only thing is she’s feeling pretty unattractive after having the baby and she thinks, what can it hurt? Just a little here and there will help her lose weight and give her more energy to care for her son. This time though things fall into place much easier for Kristina. She finds it much easier to get the drugs and a better quality drug at that. In no time at all she is completely immersed in the ‘life’ again with no regard for her life and more importantly for her son’s life.
While Kristina has been assuming that nobody knows she’s back on the crank, she is surprised to find out that her mom and Scott knew all along. At one point Kristina puts her son Hunter in danger and her mother finally blows up. She tells Kristina to go and get her life together; that she can’t have Hunter until she is capable of properly caring for a baby. So Kristina leaves vowing she’ll get herself together and get her son back one day.
She ends up living with the cousin of her latest boyfriend and life turns into one continuous loop of drugs and sex. She knows she’s heading down a bad path but she hasn’t the power to stop it and just lives day to day – hit to hit. Selling drugs seems to be the best and easiest way to survive but that never leads to a good end. This installment leaves us knowing that there is more to come and that’s what we get with Fallout, which is available now.
As with Crank, Glass drags us full tilt into the world of a drug addict with first class seats. You can feel the hopelessness in the pages of Kristina’s life. I found Glass even more disturbing than Crank except for being relieved that her son was being taken care of. The life Kristina is living is horrific. There is no care for anything that we, as human beings, normally care about like a clean place to sleep, a job, food and proper care for our kids. She doesn’t care (the drug doesn’t let her/can’t let her) – she only cares about getting her drugs. Such is the life of a drug addict.
I already have Fallout and plan on reading it as soon as I can. I’m definitely anxious to find out how it will all end for Kristina. Will she get off the drugs? Will she get her son back? Will she rebuild her life? Or will she just sink deeper into the life of drugs?
Again, I think these are good books for teens to read but I would still recommend a parent reading them first. Not all parents are appreciative of the blunt directness with which Ellen Hopkins writes. As an adult, I was shocked by some of it but then again this is not a life I’m in any way familiar with. Glass by Ellen Hopkins is another great novel well worth reading and I’m glad I took Staci’s advice and gave both Crank and Glass a read.
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My copy of Glass by Ellen Hopkins was purchased by yours truly.