New York : Simon Pulse, 2004.
537 p. ; 18 cm.
Hopkins manages to pull you into the mind and world of a high school-aged good kid drawn into a downward spiral due to her growing addiction to methamphetamine (crank). She does it with really nice verse that allows her to often have the main character's thoughts, spoken words, and dialogue from others all in one poem.
This book, and many of Hopkins very long novels in verse are very popular and I can see why. Her strength is that she deals honestly with the appeal of drug abuse - while at the same time illuminating the horrors and dangers of addiction. It's a skillful balancing act that keeps her book compelling but not preachy. Also the variety of poetic line structures works pretty well - allowing calm meditative poems, jumbled high-on-meth poems, broken blocks of verse to reflect multiple voices and perspectives, etc.
In a short "Author's note" at the beginning of the book, Hopkins reveals that much of the substance of her novel in verse is from her own life as a mother with a meth-addicted daughter, though she admits that many events, characters, etc. are composites based on real life experiences.
No need to recommend this book, as it remains very popular. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it, so I can appreciate its many strengths.
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