Identical by Ellen Hopkins

From Goodreads, 

"Do twins begin in the womb?
Or in a better place?

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family—on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that's where their differences begin.

For Kaeleigh, she's the misplaced focus of Daddy's love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites—and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept—from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it's obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is—who?"

Goodreads - Identical

This post is bittersweet since it is the final Friday of April which means poetry month is officially over.  Throughout the year I stay on the lookout for poetry-based books.  I am finding it harder and harder to find poetry/prose books and keep finding myself drawn to Hopkins's books because I know they fit the mold.  This being said, I really want to branch out and find some different authors who focus on poetry.  

Identical is the story of two identical twins, Raeanne and Kaeleigh.  The story rotates between their respective perspectives.  Raeanne is fearless and daring.  She wants all the guys, especially if they are older.  She wants pot and drugs.  She wants love from her father.  Kaeleigh is the opposite.  She is perfectly collected and makes good grades in school.  She doesn't get into trouble.  She wants more of her mother's love and a lot less of her father's.  The two stories are told parallel to each other with very minimal interaction between the two girls until the shocking end of the book. 

Spoiler alerts ahead!!!

I never truly felt connected with Kaeleigh or Raeanne in this book.  The topic of Kaeleigh being sexually abused by her father was rough, no matter which angle you looked at it from.  I felt like I favored Raeanne more than Kaeleigh.  She seemed more confident and sure of herself than Kaeleigh did, for good reason of course.  But I was also frustrated that Raeanne wasn't helping Kaeleigh to stop the abuse.  I was frustrated with all the family members and adults in this book for not stepping in and stopping what was happening.  But as the book continued I realized that one of the two girls would end up attempting or committing suicide.  I did NOT expect Raeanne to have been killed in the car accident years prior.  And I did NOT expect Kaeleigh to be suffering from a disassociative identity disorder.  After Raeanne was killed in the car wreck, Kaeleigh soon started being abused by their father.  Over time Kaeleigh developed another personality, more specifically her dead sister.  I feel that it was almost a coping mechanism, which is mentioned in the book that this usually happens due to childhood trauma or abuse.  I expected a twist, but I didn't expect the entire book to have been told by one person with two personalities.

While I was shocked with the ending, I was displeased with this book.  All of Ellen Hopkins's books are running together and seem to be exactly the same.  To put it simply, I am getting very bored with Ellen Hopkins's writing style.  I feel like she had the big hit with the Crank series and thought she had really found something.  But the books following the hit series lacked depth and details.  I never feel truly connected with any of the characters in the book and there is a complete lack of details.  I feel like she is pushing the bigger message so hard that we miss the details that truly make a story.  And I feel like she has continued to write in the poetry/prose style so avoid having to include details.  I feel like we could save a ton of paper if we stopped breaking sentences up and putting them into funky shapes and patterns.  The copy I read was 565 pages and I feel that it could have easily been condensed to 200 pages if we got rid of the sentence breaks and writing style.  

I think people who really enjoy the writing style of the Crank series will enjoy this as well.  It does have triggers that people need to be aware of before reading.  I am getting exhausted with Hopkins's writing style.  Every book feels exactly the same and sounds exactly the same and has the same underlying themes.  The lack of details makes it difficult for me to separate one book from another.  I give this 2 stars.

Voices from the March on Washington by J. Patrick Lewis & George Ella Lyon

 From Goodreads, 

"This novel-in-verse plunges readers into the heart of the experience of the March on Washington, capturing the emotions of the day from multiple points of view. Throughout this moving, beautifully crafted collection of poems, six “soloists” tell their personal tales of how the March changed them. These voices are interwoven with those of more than 35 others, combining to share one incredible story of that important day. From a woman singing through a terrifying bus ride to DC to a young child riding above the crowd on her father’s shoulders, each voice brings something different and fresh to the story, making the March completely accessible to young readers. Based on extensive research, Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis and highly-lauded poet George Ella Lyon have crafted a unique and beautiful account of this important moment in our history."

Goodreads - Voices from the March on Washington

You may wonder how I'm able to read a book each week.  And my secret is that I don't.  I actually read books, write the reviews, and schedule them for when I want them to post.  For example, this one is a poetry book, and as I write this it is currently the middle of September.  That being said, I think this book is still just as relevant and important as ever. 

Voices from the March on Washington is a series of poems that tell the story of multiple people from August 28, 1963.  They go together to form the outline of a story and the feelings and emotions that were present on that day. 

In the first few poems of this book, I was confused about the "storyline" and why there were so many poems by so many people.  As it progressed I realized that it was simply telling the story of the March on Washington and didn't have a true storyline.  It was more of the emotions and feelings of the day.  The poems display the hunger and excitement for equality for all.  But I think the entire feeling of this book is so important today more than ever.  Just months ago (remember I'm writing this in September), people were rioting in the streets.  They were burning towns and destroying their city for equality and justice for African Americans who had been killed by police.  I'm not taking sides, but I am saying that peace is an option.  Peaceful protest is an oxymoron, but it is an option.  Thousands of African Americans gathered in Washington to peacefully march and stand up for their right as Americans.  They didn't burn buildings.  They didn't loot.  They didn't fight people.  I think that many people need to read this book and see how patience and maturity will push an issue far faster than burning your own city down.  

On the flip side, I think that I would have loved to have had a bit of an actual storyline sprinkled into the book.  The excitement and emotion of the day were great but having more of a storyline would have taken this book to the next level.

This was a good book, but the lack of a storyline was a missed point with me.  I wish that the book would have followed a couple people and would have included chapters for their story so we could really see how the stories weaved together and crossed paths on this day.  I give this 3 stars.  It is highly advised that people read this book to maybe learn that chaos is not always the answer.  

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

From Goodreads, 

"From the Newbery Medal-winning author of Seedfolks, Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise is a collection of irresistible poems that celebrates the insect world.

Funny, sad, loud, and quiet, each of these poems resounds with a booming, boisterous, joyful noise.

The poems resound with the pulse of the cicada and the drone of the honeybee. They can be fully appreciated by an individual reader, but they're particularly striking when read aloud by two voices, making this an ideal pick for classroom use. Eric Beddows′s vibrant drawings send each insect soaring, spinning, or creeping off the page in its own unique way.

With Joyful Noise, Paul Fleischman created not only a fascinating guide to the insect world but an exultant celebration of life."

Goodreads - Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Awards and Nominations:

• Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Nominee for Fiction and Poetry (1988)
• Newbery Medal (1989)

I always keep a few books on my "Saved for Later" list on Amazon.  A while back I received a refund from Amazon and decided to select a couple books to go ahead and order.  This book was one of them.  When the book arrived a week later I was shocked by how small it was and wondered what made it so amazing to receive the Newbery Medal. 

This book is a series of poems that focus on insects found in nature.  All the poems are written so that two voices make them complete and give a certain rhythm and noise to them. 

This book was a quick read, but a difficult read because I am just one voice.  I was constantly having to bounce back and forth to try to get the entire poem since I only had one copy of the book and had no one else to read them with me.  Some of the poems were very melodic and interesting, while others I was ready to finish and move on.  However, as a teacher, I was very intrigued by this book.  I immediately started thinking of ways that I could incorporate this "two voice poem" idea into my classroom and my poetry unit.  I have heard poems like this before and thought they were really amazing and always of a moving topic.  I would love to partner students up and assign them a poem to learn and say with their partners.  It would work on their reading skills, their speaking skills, and their fluency and rhythm of speaking.  It would also be extremely interesting to let students write their own two voice poems and allow them to express themselves.  I think students would find it tedious, but also rewarding once they finally got it right.  

I'm still not sure how this book received the Newbery Medal in 1989.  It lacks a storyline and honestly requires two people to be able to read it.  You can read with one, but it is difficult.  I looked up the other nominees from 1989 and frankly, it looks like 1989 was a rough year for book nominations.  I give this 1 star, but I am definitely glad I could get some ideas out of it for my classroom.

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

From Goodreads,

"What would you give up to be perfect? Four teens find out in the New York Times bestselling companion to Impulse.

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.

Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.

A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins’s Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves."

Goodreads - Perfect

Awards and Nominations:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee For Young Adult Fiction (2011)
• Children's Choice Book Award Nominee for Teen Choice Book of the Year (2012)

Welcome back to week 2 of April and poetry month.  I am very excited to share another book by Ellen Hopkins.  This is the sequel to Impulse which I reviewed last week.

Perfect starts at the same place that Impulse did, except it is told from the perspective of four different people.  One is Conner's sister Cara who also has to deal with the high expectations of her mother while also sorting out her feelings to figure out if she likes Sean or if she likes Dani.  Sean is the athlete who is dating Cara.  He is trying to build his life around a girl who isn't really sure about him, and he is working hard to get into college on a baseball scholarship.  Sean starts relying on steroids but is soon confused about why he is angry all the time.  Kendra used to date Conner and Sean.  Kendra wants to look perfect from her head to her toes.  She starts counting every calorie and working out obsessively so that she can get onto the runway to become a model.  Andre's mom will be fixing Kendra's nose, but he falls head over heels for Kendra's sister Jenna.  Andre has to figure out if he wants Jenna or a dance career more, all while trying to keep his parents happy.

Everyone has their own idea of what perfect entails.   Most people have an idea of what the perfect relationship would be like, what the perfect job is, what the perfect house looks like, and so on.  Perfect is something that many people are pushed to be, but I believe that more push themselves to be perfect.  I really felt that this book was a mixture of parents pushing their kids and their kids pushing themselves.  Sean and Kendra both wanted something for themselves and pushed themselves well beyond what they should have.  Andre and Cara were both being pushed by parents to be the best and to meet their expectations.  Last week I wrote about parents pushing their kid to be perfect, and today I want to talk about kids pushing themselves.  My siblings and I all took very different paths in life.  One sibling went the path of the military, one got pregnant in high school and has primarily been a stay at home mom, and one took the path of fast-food restaurants only to build themselves into a well-paying position in the company.  They each had their own path and I vowed that none of those would be mine.  I knew I was going to make a name for myself by going to college and becoming a teacher.  I was going to have a reliable salary paying job.  I knew what I wanted and I did it.  I knew what would derail my plans and I avoided those things at all costs.  Now 5 years out of college and pushing myself to be perfect, I am sometimes referred to as being uptight.  I have held myself to be "perfect" that a lot of the time I'm unable to let go and have fun.  And frankly, it sucks to have your brain so wired to be perfect all the time.  It is something I'm learning to overcome, but it has definitely been a struggle.  So I definitely understand what these kids are experiencing and feeling when they are expected to be perfect.

I honestly think I liked this book more than Impulse.  I enjoyed each of the characters except for Andre.  I felt like he was forced into the book and his insight wasn't really crucial to the entire story as a whole.  He definitely felt more like a supporting character than a main character.  I also want to disclose that this book has a rape trigger.  Three of the four main characters has a tie back in with some kind of rape incident.

I enjoyed this book, but much like Impulse, I was left wanting more after it ended.  Both books start and end at almost the same time, but it absolutely necessary to read Impulse first.  I give this book also 4 stars out of 5.  As I mentioned above this book has a rape scene in it, and I advise caution if rape is a trigger for you.  

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

From Goodreads,

"From the bestselling author of Crank, the story of three kids whose lives collide at a mental hospital after each attempt suicide.

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act—suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun—and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life—but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place."

Goodreads - Impulse

Awards and Nominations:

• Georgia Peach Book Award (2008)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2013)

April is always a favorite month of mine because I get to share my reviews of poetry books!  They are always fast reads, but usually pack a lot of punch in them.  I am finding that it is difficult to easily find poetry books with a solid story.  Ellen Hopkins has become one of my go-to's for books with prose or poetry.

Impulse is about 3 teens, Vanessa, Tony, and Conner, who all land themselves in a rehabilitation treatment center after trying to commit suicide.  Different paths have brought them to this shared place, but together the three will help each other to move through the levels to migrate back into society.  The looming question is will they make it through the levels and through the Challenge to go back to a normal life.

I hate to be this person, but there's a *SPOILER ALERT* ahead.  If you don't want a spoiler alert, I advise you to stop reading. 

At the end of the book, Conner commits suicide by jumping off the huge cliff they climbed while at the Wilderness Challenge.  The entire time I was reading the book I knew that someone wasn't going to make it to the end.  About halfway through the book, I had a clear picture of who wasn't going to make it.  Hopkins worked really hard to write Conner as a character that was distancing himself and she somehow managed to distance him even though he had the same amount of "sections" as everyone else.  Conner's fault was that his parents expected perfection out of him and he couldn't do that.  He couldn't be that person, and they were too caught up in their own world to see that and not change for him.  I ultimately feel that Conner's parents killed him by their overly high expectations for him.  I think this was a great topic to cover because it isn't something that is written about a lot.  All parents have expectations for their children.  I think some kids see that and push themselves beyond the limits that they should.  It is good for this entire topic to be in books for kids to see that they aren't the only ones that feel pressure from parents, especially as teenagers.

I love that Ellen covers so many topics in all of her books.  However, this one I felt had so much packed into it that it was hard to get what "message" was trying to get across.  The book covers sexual abuse, physical abuse, AIDS, sexuality, parent expectations, self-mutilation, drugs, and suicide.  It was very overwhelming.  I think the overarching theme was suicide and mental health, but I just felt that with three main characters it was a LOT shoved in my face.

Overall, the book was a lengthy read (as almost all of Hopkins' books are), but it had solid characters that took their time building up their story.  I would have rathered had this from one point of view and less topic coverage.  It should have focused on a few key points and let the rest go.  I give this 4 stars and I am excited to read the follow-up book Perfect.