Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Summary: 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?"

Review: This book has such a great message because sex is something that a lot of teens and young adults don't really understand. Ellen took another bold risk by talking about sex in this way, but I think it had paid off. My favorite character is probably Whitney because I relate the most to her. We both have older siblings we feel we have to compete with. The only difference is her sister appears to be perfect, whereas my brother is a screw-up so I have to pull up the slack. I was pretty impressed that she managed to write from the points of view of so many diverse people. Although I do think 5 POVs is pushing it. This was my second read through this book so I could follow things a lot easier now, but my first time around I had to keep looking back to see whose story I was reading. I think it would have helped if she changed the font for each POV like she did in Fallout. That's really my only complaint about this book and it isn't even a big one because I still kept the story straight. This is yet another beautifully crafted story and I most certainly recommend it.


5 howls

Comments

Karen said…
I always hear such great things about this writer. I'll have to get around to reading her books soon.