Clueless or Confused?

            The book Crank by Ellen Hopkins can be a very intense book at times but has its own way on explaining what happens in the world behind what lots of parents try to hide from their kids. Some people have to accept that these things do happen and it’s better to educate kids at a younger age so they won’t make the same mistakes. In the book the main character, Kristina/Bree, had a perfect relationship with her mother before she left to go visit her dad. Then she met a guy, started crystal meth which she tends to personally call “the monster”, and changed her life maybe almost completely. Coming back home to her well-engaged mother seems to annoy Kristina/Bree. Her and her mother are quickly drifting apart with just one trip, but many “spoons” of crank, another word used for crystal meth. Ellen Hopkins so far hasn’t showed that the mother knows about this addiction but she hasn’t shown that she doesn’t. Is the mother clueless about the addiction or is she just confused on how to talk about it?

            On page 283, Kristina/ Bree’s mother is asking her normal questions about her day asking what she ate and if she ate her veggies, normal parent to kid questions, but not normal kid thoughts. During the conversation Kristina/Bree can't help but to only think about are the downfalls of “the monster” and how she can't do all the things she used to be able to. She even says “OMG! Here I was busting my brain on first-class speed, and all she cared about was if I’d consumed my greens?” Kristina/Bree doesn’t tell her mom about the crank, which I understand would be really hard to do but she expects her mom to help her without even knowing what’s wrong. It’s not her mom’s fault that she doesn’t know. Unless she does know just doesn’t know how to talk about it.

            But in conclusion, yes Kristina/Bree’s mother should help her with her “addiction” to crank but how can she do anything if she doesn’t know what's wrong? I understand that it is hard for Kristina/Bree to tell her mother or anyone else who doesn’t do crank but since she doesn’t tell anyone how can she expect them to know what wrong or even what to do about it. So far it seems like her mother is clueless about the crank but can tell something is up.