Tricks

Author:  Ellen Hopkins

Hardcover
ISBN:  9781416950073
625 pages

Book Description:

“When all choice is taken from you, life becomes a game of survival.”

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching…for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don’t expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words “I love you” are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story — a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, “Can I ever feel okay about myself?”

A brilliant achievement from New York Times best-selling author Ellen Hopkins — who has been called “the bestselling living poet in the country” by mediabistro.com — Tricks is a book that turns you on and repels you at the same time. Just like so much of life.

My Thoughts:

I really admire Ellen Hopkins and her ability to tackle the tough issues.  This book is no exception.  I had so many emotions while reading this book – anger, sadness, angst, hopefulness, despair – which I think is the point of Ms. Hopkins’s stories.  It’s so hard for me to imagine that teenagers actually face these types of issues.  It really saddens me.  You just want to jump into these stories and protect these kids and try to make their lives better. 

This is a book about love and sex.  Or sex and love?  I’ll let you decide.  There are a lot of serious issues that are addressed in this book – drug use, homosexuality, rape, prostitution, and even religion.  You will cringe, but you will also be spellbound and be unable to put the book down.  Five teenagers, from different walks of life, trying to find their way; trying to find love; and trying to grow up in very difficult world. 

I highly recommend Ms. Hopkins books – they are not easy reads, but they will definitely make you think about life and about what kids are facing these days.  TRICKS is a powerful story and one I won’t soon forget.

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