Searching For Love

In Crank by Ellen Hopkins, Kristina makes many controversial decisions. The decisions she makes are doing crystal meth repeatedly, dating two and a half boys at the same time (the half being Adam who she is sort of in and out of a relationship with), doing crystal meth while with her boyfriends, causing her to be taken advantage of and to get pregnant, and lying to her mother about nearly everything she does. Kristina makes these decisions because she wants love. She wants love from her mother, Adam (boyfriend #1), Brendan (boyfriend #2), and Chase (boyfriend #3).

Kristina's mother and most of her family are caught up in there own lives and don't really pay much attention to Kristina, until she gets caught up in all this trouble and starts acting weird. The first time her mom really says that she loves her in the book is when Kristina says to her "fuck you."So she sees that once she starts doing crank and staying out late, her mother starts to show that she cares about her and loves her, so why would she stop if that's the only way to make her mother love her? And she dates Adam because she needs love to make up for staying with her dad who caring about his daughter is one of the last things on his list of things to do. Kristina does crank for the first time because she wants Adam to love her, and he does crank, so her doing crank will impress him and make him love her. She dates and gets high with Brendan because he's beautiful and could easily get other girls but she wants him to just love her and wants to feel close to him. She makes love to Chase because she wants to feel what making love feels like when the person actually loves you (unlike Brendan), and she just wants to feel his love for her. 

There's got to better ways to find love, or to get people to really show their love besides hurting yourself for it. One of the things every single human being has in common, is that in some way they are searching for love. Knowing that someone loves you and feeling their love for you is one of the most amazing feeling someone can feel, whether it's your mother, your father, or your boyfriend/girlfriend. Many of the decisions people make every day are made for love. People will do anything to feel loved. And sometimes that anything is destructive, to them or to others. So one of the most difficult things as humans, is finding harm free love and making people love you for who you are, not what you do.

As Good as Love gets at Seventeen

When there is so much going on in your life it becomes hard to realize that what's happening is real and once you do it there is no turning back. People need a person to help them with their problems to take stress away and get a reality check. People need someone who loves them. In the book “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins, this love is something the main character, Kristina/Bree needed without knowing and her family wasn't helping her get it. But as they say love is blind Kristina/Bree finds someone who loves her for who she truly is and will not except anything else. This is the love all people need the most, but only some search for it.

Kristina/Bree finds love, real and true love after her trial and fails. But this love is different the other guys only love her for her so called “Bree” character he loves Kristina and knows everything about her. He is not only Kristina’s “lover” but her best friend. Chase is Kristina’s first true love and because of the events that happened I hope it’s also her last. Chase knows Kristina better than she knows herself. On page 359 in the book Kristina is trying to hide her feelings and what happened the night before. But Chase senses something wrong and pushes to find the answer, and then he gets it. When he finds out that Kristina was raped by Brendan he goes ballistic and threatens to kill him, which slowly leads into sorrow that he wasn't there to help, which slowly leads to him saying his true feelings. “I love you, Kristina”. Not only does Chase know everything about Kristina he loves her and wants to marry her. Nothing changes his mind about his love for her. Even two enormous moments in Kristina’s life can't change his feelings, like when he finds out that she's pregnant and its not his baby its Brendan’s he only offers to help. He doesn't tell Kristina to get and abortion he only offers to help her carry and take care of the baby with her. At the age of seventeen if this isn't true love, what is?

In conclusion, everyone needs someone who loves them in their life family, friends, anything. They need another mind to help them think especially when they are going through a lot or stressing with anything. Maybe not everyone is able to find this love but Kristina was able to and without that I don’t think she would have been able to deal with all the things going on at once in her life. Because loving yourself sometimes just isn't enough.

Commitment and Loyalty

Rape. Pregnancy. Drugs. Police. The book Crank by Ellen Hopkins deals with it all in telling the story of Kristina. Kristina is a teenager who is looking to branch away from her comfort zone and start a new personality-- one she has named Bree. Unfortunately, Bree makes all the wrong decisions, and Kristina has to pay the price. Smoking weed, snorting meth, and taking ecstasy pills help her cope with her confusion, satisfy her never-ending hunger from when a 'friend' named Adam introduced her to them. While sorting through her life there is always just one person that has truly been there for Kristina, and that is Chase.

The reason this character stands out to me the most, is because he is one of those individuals that is almost "too good to be true". He is loyal, supportive, committed, and caring. Out of the three boys Kristina dated in the time span of less than a month-- he is the only one who treated her respectably. Brendan illegally forced Kristina into doing something she wasn't comfortable with, as did Adam. In addition, he felt they had an open relationship, even though it broke Kristina's heart. 

When Kristina called Chase and told him she was feeling upset, he came to comfort her. And when she told him that Brendan had raped her the night before, he was more mad at himself than he was at Brendan, for not being there to protect Kristina. This showed that his love for Kristina wasn't about competing with other guys, but it was being there for one another. "I should have been there for you" he sobbed as they embraced. His tears portrayed sincerity and sorrow, and implies that he truly cares for Kristina.

Towards the end of the story, Kristina tells Chase she is pregnant. Now in most cases, one would assume that a relationship would end there. But Chases was one of the few that stood by her. And, he wanted to keep and raise the child, even when he found out that the child wasn't his. In one of her moments of doubt, Chase assures her that he will support her and she says, "Chase likewise promised to care for us, work two jobs if need be." Promising to work two jobs, is showing a great deal of commitment.

And finally, he asks to marry her.

He has proved to Kristina that he is ready to take on the responsibility that has been laid out before him.

Realistically, if a girl gets pregnant in her teen years, she has to raise a child without the help of a father. Brendan, the true father, was reluctant to give Kristina cash. In some cases, the family will stop supporting the girl as well. So I found Kristina incredibly lucky to have a family that supported her decision not to abort her child, and to have Chase who loved her and was willing to do anything to help.

Overall, Crank took the reader through some very dark topics and if I'm correct, based off the author's daughter. Ellen didn't write this novel randomly, but because it is a story that people can actually relate to. Kristina's life went downhill at a very rapid pace, but Chase helped her slow down--hopefully later to help her up again.

Think before you act

After finishing Crank  by Ellen Hopkins, I realized that Kristina completely screwed up her life because of one bad decision she made. Of course, it didn't help that her mom and dad had a horrid relationship that still haunted her. But, she gave in to one night of hardcore, drug-related partying, and right off the bat she almost gets raped (or maybe worse). Then, after that it just goes down hill from there, until it goes to an, almost, full stop at the end of the book. While I read, I realized that Kristina seems to go through different phases, and with each phase a different boyfriend.
First, there is Adam, or Buddy. He seems to be a nice guy. He is careful and loving. But, there are two bad things about him, which are; 1. He already has a girlfriend (Lince), and 2. He introduces her to crank. They end by Kristina going back home, and Lince jumping off a building because Adam left her. So, yeah, it was a pretty bad relationship. Sadly, the ship of everything going back to normal had sailed, and Kristina was only getting started. Next, there was Brendan, the swimmer. He had a nice body, and a perfect tan, so Kristina was all over him. He was, like Adam, a big crank user, so Kristina was getting even more hooked to the drug. Then, that relationship ended abruptly when Brendan raped her. So, another good call from Kristina. After that she seems to mature a bit, and is with Chase. Although Chase and Brendan did overlap a little, she still seemed to be more in control of herself (and Bree). Chase is actually a genuinely good person. He treats Kristina with respect and sets boundaries for her as well. Although he is also a crank user, he seems to be more in control with his actions (like Kristina). While everything started to look OK for Kristina, she found out she was pregnant. And sadly, it wasn't with Chase. She also learned that Chase was going over to North California for college. But, even after all of the horrible events, that relationship lingered on. Kristina finally seemed to have settled.

So, in all, Kristina went through things in 3 years that it would take others 10 years (or maybe more) to accomplish. There is the Adam Phase, where she is introduced (and gets addicted) to drugs. Then the Brendan Phase, the crazy, bad decisions she makes. And finally, the Chase Phase, where she slows herself down, and gives herself space to breathe. Of course, this might never happen to people. But it really gets you thinking, Is this me in the future? Do I really want this? Crank is a book that really gets you thinking about your future, and how you should prepare for it.

Clouded Judgement

I just finished the book Crank by Ellen Hopkins. The main character Kristina who mostly refers to herself as Bree went to her fathers house and was introduced to crystal meth or “crank”. Kristina, or Bree, began dating multiple boys. One boy, Brendan, raped her. Bree was broken the first night, but soon she seemed healed. Crank seemed to allow Kristina or Bree to not care until she found out she was pregnant. Her mind changed on what to do many times, Bree and Kristina each wanted to do something different. In the end Kristina made the decision to keep the baby, but Bree made the decision to leave.

The main character may have physically been Kristina, but there was an emotional struggle between the two personalities. It’s more than an emotional struggle it’s a conscience struggle. When Kristina got pregnant Bree was sailing through life not caring. Kristina made Bree face lifes consequences. Kristina made the commitment to keep the baby, but her addiction and Bree made her want to run away. Bree didn’t care that she had made the commitment and Bree took over.

In life often one thing will overshadow a commitment. Often in the world there is a point where people will stop caring about the most important things and something else will take over. Sometimes people will forget completely about their responsibilities. Bree was the thing that made Kristina forget all her responsibilities and just stop caring. To Kristina Bree took over, but Bree was the crank and crank was the distraction, that everybody has one way or another.

When consequences no longer matter

When the consequences, no matter how huge, no longer have an impact. When you can see clearly what can, and will happen to you, but you still continue to preform your actions, that is when you have reached the point of no return.

It is hard to tell when Kristina hit this point. I think she really started to slip when she saw her dad, and how he turned out, but made next to no attempt to stop cranking. She was falling pretty fast when she saw Lince attempt to commit suicide because of the crank, but I think that she really hit rock bottom when she was with Robyn at the aviation show and she told Robyn about Brendan and how he raped her. Robyn in return, shared her story, saying how she, in return for crystal meth, had gotten into a car with a random stranger, and still had the scars from what he did to her. Even though they are both speaking lightly, I think this is one of the heavier scenes from the story. And though almost the exact same thing happened to Kristina, even though she know how much worse things could become if she is not able to get her meth, she still carries on, not even attempting to stop herself.

I think at any point in the story, Kristina would have been physically able to check herself into a rehabilitation clinic. She was not so far gone that that would have been impossible for her to have a life without the meth: extremely difficult, yes, but not impossible. I think the fact she never even considered, never even tried to imagine getting any real help shows that she was beyond the consequences the crystal meth posed, and just didn’t care anymore. I the beginning, she had worries and doubts. She tries to resist when crank was offered—she thought about her future. But then she slowly started to stop doing that. I don’t think that the point of no return is when your body gives out, but when you as a person stop trying.

When a person has a potentially fatal disease, they have the capacity to either survive or not. Sometimes, the person just gives up, and that is what determines whether they live or not. As long as you continue to hold out and struggle for any thread of a lifeline, there is still hope you could be saved. When people stop looking into their futures, when they stop caring about the consequences,  that is their version of giving up—that  is what determines if you beat your ‘bad’ choices, or solve them .

When Does It Become Too Much?

I just finished reading Crank by Ellen Hopkins. The protagonist, Kristina -- she also calls herself Bree-- is a confused teenager, whose life starts falling all at once. Kristina finds a new side to herself, who she calls Bree, who does the thing Kristina would never do. Crystal meth. This Kristina messes around with boys, and stops caring about the rest of the world. She practically lets go of all the good she has. In the end of the book, she gets pregnant, and slowly starts trying to take the control of what she describes as "the monster" had taken from her. All of this brings up the question, when does all of this become too much?

Lots of parents ban this book from libraries, saying its inappropriate for youth. I however disagree. It was not my favorite book of all time. I felt like it could be really frustrating to watch Kristina "throw her life away," but that also adds to some of the power of the book. This book is important for developing minds to learn about so they can earn about it before being stuck in a bad situation.

Whether parents approve it or not, it introduces a part of the world to youth they haven't seen before. By hiding something and never letting them learn about it, only increases the temptation. To really see how something like this drug could affect somebody has a lot of power over the reader. If you were to be offered something like this and you didn't know what it was or what it could do to you, then you could be putting yourself in a lot of danger.

Kristina was introduced to a world she didn't know she had connection to. She was questioning herself and under the pressure of others to become this person who she didn't feel like she knew. She didn't know the side of her she called Bree. Whats unfamiliar to us we want to learn more about. This book shows you that side. You can't go out and live it like Kristina, but you get a better understanding of it. You see what it does to people, and you don't have to experiment because you know.

Being a young teenager, I understand questioning what you have, and wondering what makes you the happiest you could be. Kristina was taken over by a "monster" when she started crystal meth, and thought that would make her happy. Instead she had to fight it to get herself back. However I haven't experienced something this serious, I still go through stuff. I've questioned the types of people I want to associate myself with and who I'm going to be when I'm older. But by reading literature with lots of information about the bad things going on in the world, I'm capable of figuring out the good I want, and the bad I want to stay away from.