Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
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?"

This was an amazing, powerful novel from the queen of verse Ellen Hopkins. Each of the 5 stories is extremely compelling and heartbreaking; it becomes so hard to put the book down because you need to know what happens next. I really enjoyed seeing how Hopkins interwove all the different stories toward the end and it was interesting to read how each character ended up- some saved, some not. While it was sad to see some characters not get what they wanted or the love they deserve, it was still realistic. Hopkins' books are like car crashes- it's such a horrible sight but you can't take your eyes away from it. It's such an eye-opening experience- reading these stories about teenagers who are going through these horrible experiences and having to deal with them. The way Hopkins writes about these characters is raw, sympathetic, realistic, emotional, and is just all-around amazing. This book debuted at #1 on the NYT Bestsellers List and let me tell you, it deserves it. It's in my Top 3 Ellen books- highly recommended.


Read Ellen's thoughts here on the overtly graphic nature of this book, as deemed by the professional reviewers.