Crank Series.
Crank.
Ellen Hopkins.
DEDICATION.
This book is dedicated to my family, and all families whose lives have been touched by the monster.
With special thanks to Lin Oliver and Steve Mooser and their wonderful SCBWI, which guided my way.
AUTHOR"S NOTE While this work is fiction, it is loosely based on a very true story-my daughter"s. The monster did touch her life, and the lives of her family. My family. It is hard to watch someone you love fall so deeply under the spell of a substance that turns him or her into a stranger. Someone you don"t even want to know.
Nothing in this story is impossible. Much of it happened to us, or to families like ours. Many of the characters are composites of real people. If they ring true, they should. The "baby" at the end of the book is now seven years old, and my husband and I have adopted him. He is thriving now, but it took a lot of extra love.
If this story speaks to you, I have accomplished what I set out to do. Crank is, indeed, a monster-one that is tough to leave behind once you invite it into your life. Think twice. Then think again.
Crank.
Flirtin" with the Monster.
Introduction.
Alone
On Bree
More on Bree
My Mom Will Tell You
Aboard United 1425
Two Hours into the Flight
Hot Landing
The Prince of Albuquerque
Mutual a.s.sessment
I Got in a Car with a Stranger
Small Talk Shrank to Minuscule
You Call This a Castle?
Not My Type
At Least I Had Something
Dad Had to Go to Work
He Worked in a Bowling Alley
I Opted Out
Not Quite Silent
The Screaming
Of Course, When I Was Little
Okay, Over the Last Few Years
Dad Hadn"t Paid His Cable Bill
The Rules
She Went Inside
I Must Have Moaned
The Wind Blew Up
Bree? Who Was She?