Awhile back, my friend Tracy recommended a book series to me called "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins. There are three books in the series, "Crank," "Glass" and "Fallout." All of them are about a young woman and her addiction to meth. The books are written in poetic prose, which really adds something to the subject matter AND makes for quick reading.
Wow. I don't have any personal experience in my life with drug addiction, but I have friends and family who do, whether it is they themselves that have the issue or someone who loves them that is/has dealt with it. This series, while powerful, was really, really hard to read. The first book, when it was just the character of Kristina hurting herself with her addiction it wasn't terrible reading. Later on, when she becomes a teenage mother and her drug addiction affects her kids and the rest of the family, that was really hard to get through. There were times that I wanted to put down the second book and run away from it, I was so uncomfortable with the subject matter. But it's good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, and it was interesting to say the least the all-encompassing way that Kristina's meth use, or "flirting with the monster" takes her life down the tubes. What is even more tragic is how quickly everything turns to crap with this kind of abuse and addiction. My generation is of the Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign, and I did "just say no." I am of the school of "Drugs are bad, m'kay??" But I've never had to question why. This book tells you why, exactly.
At first I was shocked (shocked!) that this was in the Young Adult section in the library. Not that I am into banning books, in fact, I'm quite against it. But then I guess that they would serve as a pretty harsh warning to teenagers thinking of using meth and gives a good case to what will happen if you do. I think that my perception of when kids can first encounter drug use and/or be offered drugs is a big misconception. I have a friend from college that I haven't talked to in ages, she works as a substance abuse counselor. I remember a conversation with her five years ago regarding drug use and kids and she said then that she has regular conversations with her daughter, then seven, about the dangers of drug use. She said that in her job, she has seen problems arise in kids as young as nine or ten. NINE or TEN. I can't say that for my generation, that I saw drugs at that age, or older even. Perhaps I was oblivious, but I don't really believe that drug use was rampant on the playgrounds I grew up on. High school, sure I knew kids that did drugs. Mostly pot, but I didn't know anyone that did harder drugs. I knew of a little more hard drug use in college, and working as a property manager in the city, I see it every day. A lot of it in plain sight.
Another thing that surprised me is that this is a work of fiction. The situation seems so REAL as you're reading it and you're picturing the family and how they're dealing with it and the repercussions of people's life choices. But it is not real. However, the series is based on the author's daughter and her very real battle with drug addiction at a young age, and the author gaining custody of her son because of it.
All I can say, after reading these books, is that I pray that I will not EVER have to deal with the subject matter in real life. And that, after reading these books and seeing what I see every day in the neighborhood that I work in, to have honest, open discussions with my children about drug use, abuse and the affects.
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