Crank

Title: Crank
Author: Ellen Hopkins
This is one of my all time favorite novels, I adore this book. It's written in the style of a poem. It's almost like a journal that the main character is keeping, her name is Kristina. The vocabulary choice of the author is very sophisticated, yet it still reflects the age group of the main character as well. Her writting is structured very well, and the story is told at a fast pace, so you never lose interest.
The plot of the book is centered around a girl named Kristina who is going to visit her Dad in California, she hasn't seen him for quite some time, and has no idea what all her trip will include. She's only going to be there for a short amount of time, and while shes there, her entire world will be turned upside down.
Her Dad is nothing like she pictured, and far from a good parental figure. He pretty much does absolutely nothing with her, shes just some extra person there to him. His lack of authority allows Kristina to do whatever it is she pleases. While out one day, she meets a guy. This leads to her telling him her name is Bree, creating an al alter-ego for herself. One night while shes out with him, she ends up doing crank with him. (which you find out her Dad is a crank junkie as well).
That pretty much changed the rest of her life from that point on. It wasn't just a one time trial, she became addicted. Even when she left her dads and went home, she had to have it. It totally controlled her life. It caused her to do things she normally wouldn't, things that were often pretty harmful and put her personal safety in alot of danger. I won't spoil the end of the book for you, but at the end she comes into a pretty big conflict where she realizes just how deep she's in, and thats when she starts attempting to reform herself. However.. there are just some things you can't come back from.
Drug use is a contreversial subject. Some people see no problem with it, others see it as totally immoral and wrong. What I liked about this book, is that it never says "drugs are horrible and awful". It shows you what life is like for someone who abuses drugs. Regardless of if your opinion on drugs, no one supports drug abuse. Just how serious the side effects of drug use can be often tend to go neglected, and this book brings those out nicely. Its definitely an awesome novel, and I'd recommend it to anyone.