Isabelle's blog post about the book Crank by Ellen Hopkins really stood out to me for a number of reasons. Personally, Crank is one of my favorite books so it was interesting to see how she saw it. I agree and disagree with her on many points, and disagreeing makes the post even better because disagreeing with her makes me think even more in depth about the book. I read this book in the 5th grade which was slightly traumatizing to me because I was so new to all the harsh issues this book presented, but now I can look back on this book through her blog post and realize all the hidden messages this book has. Her post also makes me think about the world issues in this book on a huge scale and how it affects me. The issue of drugs and split personalities with love still there is something Isabelle connected all together, and it is written simply yet eloquently at the same time. I truly enjoyed reading this post, because it was so well written and thoughtful about some things I would never think of.
I agree with Isabelle that Bree was a very dominant force in Kristina's life because of all the terrible things "Bree" ultimately made her do. But Isabelle insists that she could have won over Bree and she was weak. Isabelle also says that Kristina made the worse possible choices, but I disagree with both of these statements. I think Bree was the monster who Kristina really can't win over. Addiction is a terrible disease that controls the mind with an iron grip, so it's perfectly understandable how Kristina keeps sleeping around and abusing drugs, because no matter how hard Kristina tries to wean herself off crystal meth she will always be addicted. Yet Kristina loved Bree, because she was daring and flamboyant and everything quiet, studious Kristina Georgia Snow wasn't. Kristina was weak but Bree was strong, and as I recall at the end of the book Kristina says that Bree will always be there, which shows that Kristina can never ever win over Bree no matter how hard she may try.
Another thing I disagree with Isabelle about is how Kristina made the worst possible choices. I agree, the things Kristina did were terrible, but in retrospect it was all perfectly normal teenage behavior that is so common all over the world. I imagine how pious somber Kristina must have felt so trapped in her own skin. Teenage sickness is catching and when Kristina went to visit her absent father in Albuquerque, she was caught in whirlwind of teenagedom, and everything was so new and beautiful, almost because she felt like this was like living. I feel like all teenagers feel like making bad choices; it's universal. It's part of the American life. I don't want to say this, but I feel this takes off the edge off the choices she made. She was living, but she couldn't stop.
In conclusion, Isabelle's blog post, while I disagreed on some points, was very good. It changed my view on Crank and made think about the book in general. Ellen Hopkins is also my favorite author so it made this post even more enjoyable. This post also made me think about the world, which is a very beautiful thing when writing can move someone to do that. All in all, I look forward to seeing more of Isabelle's blog posts in the future.
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