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Overview
Kristina’s descent continues in the New York Times bestselling sequel to Crank, now with a refreshed look and a trade paperback trim size.
One little bit, my heart revs
high, then settles into quick-
step mode. How I’ve missed
that race and pound. How
I’ve missed the lack of control.
Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal. Whatever you call it, it’s all the same: a monster. Kristina thinks she can control it. Now with a baby to care for, she is determined to be the one deciding when and how much, the one calling the shots. But the monster is strong, and before she knows it, Kristina is back in its grip…and it won’t let go.
The sequel to Crank, this is the continuing story of Kristina and her descent back to hell.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Hopkins's hard-hitting free-verse novel, a sequel, picks up where Crankleft off. Kristina now lives in her mother's Reno home with her baby, but constantly dreams of "getting/ high. Strung. Getting/ out of this deep well/ of monotony I'm/ slowly drowning in." When her former connection turns her on to "glass": "Mexican meth, as/ good as it comes. maybe 90 percent pure," Kristina quickly loses control again. She gets kicked out of her house after her baby gets hurt on her watch, starts dealing for the Mexican Mafia ("No problem. I'll play straight/ with them. Cash and carry") and eventually even robs her mother's house with her equally addicted boyfriend. The author expertly relays both plot points and drug facts through verse, painting Kristina's self-narrated self-destruction through clean verses ("My face is hollow-/cheeked, spiced with sores"). She again experiments with form, sometimes writing two parallel poems that can be read together or separately (sometimes these experiments seem a bit cloying, as in "Santa Is Coming," a concrete poem in the shape of a Christmas tree). But in the end, readers will be amazed at how quickly they work their way through this thick book-and by how much they learn about crystal meth and the toll it takes, both on addicts and their families. Ages 14-up. (Aug.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationVOYA -
Whether it is called crank, glass, ice, or crystal, crystal methamphetamine is a highly addictive and readily available drug. Kristina Georgia Snow calls it the monster and has a perilous love-hate relationship with the substance. Readers first met Kristina in Crank (Simon & Schuster, 2004/VOYA February 2005), which told the story of her introduction to the drug by her addict father, her adoption of her wild and sexy alter-ego Bree, her descent into the monster's clutches, and the brutal date-rape that resulted in pregnancy. At seventeen, with baby Hunter to care for and a convenience-store job, Kristina at last considers herself strong and in charge of her life. She will decide when she indulges, using only enough to help her get through each day. Now with a tiny, helpless person who can give her the unconditional love that she craves, she can control the monster that has held her in its grip-or can she? Visiting her estranged father reintroduces her to the drug, and meeting Trey, seemingly the boy of her dreams, ensnares her still more deeply in the monster's clutches. Abandoning Hunter, her family, and her efforts to straighten out her life, Kristina becomes Bree again, falling into a destructive cycle of drugs, sex, and crime. Told in spare and intense free verse, incorporating dialogues, concrete poems, and monologues, Kristina's compelling and devastating story is a more honest and better-written Go Ask Alice (Prentice-Hall, 1971) for the millennium. Older teens will be enthralled by this highly-recommended cautionary tale.School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up
Kristina Snow was a 17-year-old with high grades and a loving family. In Crank (S & S, 2004), one summer in California with a meth-addicted boyfriend destroys her life. Addicted, she's raped, and goes back home to Reno pregnant. Glass picks up a year later. She lives with her mother and works at a 7-11. Depressed about her post-baby figure, she goes back on speed to lose weight. Her mother kicks her out and gains custody of the baby. She continues to spiral to the last page, which sets readers up for a third novel. Glass is even more terrifying than Crank in its utter hopelessness; meth's power is permanent and Kristina is an addict whether she uses or not. Though her recount of events in the first book is dry and self-indulgent, the pace snowballs as soon as she takes her first toke of rock meth, and one desperate, horrifying measure or decision follows another. Like Crank , this title is written in verse, but certainly not poetry. Hopkins's writing is smooth and incisive, but her fondness for seemingly random forms is distracting and adds little to the power of the narrative. Minor characters are flat, and Kristina's overblown self-pity elicits little empathy. The author tries but fails to present meth itself as a character; her descriptions of "the monster" are precious and overwritten. Kristina's story is terrible, and even when she's high, the narrative voice and mood are sobering. Teens, including reluctant readers, may appreciate the spare style and realism of Kristina's unhappy second chapter.
—Johanna LewisCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.