SLIS 5420, Module #9: Tricks

For the past three days, all I can talk about is this week's book, Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins. First, I summarized the first half at dinner (which admittedly, took all of dinner to do- there is just so much to tell!), next, I talked endlessly about the book's ending, and finally, for some reason, Colin keeps suggesting we go to Vegas...(haha, you'll just have to read the book to find out why!)

Summary

Eden is comes from a super-religious, super-conservative family in the South. She's not allowed to date, but falls in love unexpectedly (and behind her parents' backs). After getting caught sneaking around with her boyfriend, Eden's mother sends her to a "reformation" camp in Utah. Literally imprisoned at the camp, Eden seeks desperate measures to free herself from despair.

Seth is gay. He's also a farm-boy being raised in the country by his father (his mother passed away a few years ago). After finding love in Kentucky (and losing it too), Seth's father finds out about Seth's now-ex-boyfriend. After his father disowns him, Seth becomes homeless and finds soon finds himself as a live-in boyfriend to a much, much older man.

Whitney lives in her sister's shadow and is denied her mother's love and acceptance because she isn't good enough. After falling in love and being dumped by her not-so-sensitive boyfriend, Whitney seeks refuge in the arms of a photographer. Left feeling like she can't handle all that's gone wrong in her life, Whitney heads to Las Vegas with her photographer boyfriend only to find herself living in a cheap motel hooked on "H."

Ginger has 5 brothers and sisters and lives with her mother and grandmother. While her mother refuses to raise her children and chooses a life of prostitution instead, Ginger takes care of her siblings. But, when her youngest brother nearly dies, she just can't take the pressure of her life anymore. In desperation, she runs away with her only friend and begins to live the fast life as a private dancer in Vegas.

Cody is your typical stoner- he works at a video store and dates the hottest girls. But, in his last year of high school, Cody's step-father dies, leaving him and his family in crisis and in debt. Cody seeks creative solutions to his problems including gambling, drug abuse, and even serving as a male escort.

Five different teens, five different lives. Five different reasons for finding themselves living in Las Vegas and for feeling desperate. Left feeling they have no other choice than to turn tricks, Tricks confronts the realities of teen prostitution, drug abuse, and so much, much more.


My thoughts

Thank goodness I've read Ellen Hopkins before because Tricks is intense! Told in the prose that she's so famous for, Hopkins faces the brutal facts of these desperate teens without holding back. Colin keeps asking me if I am sure Tricks is written for teens and I keep re-assuring him that it is. Yes, the book is hard to swallow, but so is the fact that life is like this for many teens. In addition to being a shocking and powerful novel, Tricks opens the doors to many honest conversations about topics such as sex, drugs, and acceptance.

What have others said?

From School Library Journal (2009):

Five teens desperately seek to find their way through the darkness in Hopkins's latest epic novel in verse. Eden flees an evangelical household; Cody blocks out a family illness with gambling and sex; Whitney gives up her body in exchange for tie love she finds so elusive; Seth struggles to define himself as a homosexual; and Ginger comes to terms with an awful truth about her neglectful mother. Burden after burden piles on tie teens' shoulders until they resort to the unthinkable in order to survive. As they near rock bottom, their narratives begin to intersect It is only when their paths converge that a glimmer of redemption appears out of the hopelessness. From tie punch delivered by the title, to the teens raw voices, to the visual impact of the free verse, Hopkins once again produces a graphic, intense tale that will speak to mature teens.

And, from The Horn Book Guide (2010):

Written in Hopkins's trademark style--largely free-verse poems that make use of broken lines, double columns, linked phrases, and other devices--this hefty volume follows five teenagers as they flee troubled families and fall into prostitution. Each character is sympathetic with an independent voice. As usual, Hopkins's preference for excess (the more vices and victims the better) pushes the tale toward melodrama.

Some ideas for the library or classroom

Any fan of Ellen Hopkins will devour Tricks. The book will also serve as a great recommendation for teens interesting in learning more about child prostitution. *A word of caution: the text is most certainly for older teens and not for younger or immature readers.*

Because of it's controversial nature, Tricks is probably a better fit for the library than the classroom. However, like I said about What My Mother Doesn't Know, this book will serve as a great example of engaging prose. The text features various styles of poetry and many excerpts can be used to hook young adults onto poems. Some of the most powerful poems are those written by the characters themselves and appear at the beginning of each story change.

References

Hopkins, E. (2009). Tricks. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Maza, J. (2009). [Review of the book, Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins]. School Library Journal, 55(10), 128.

Tricks. (2010). [Review of the book, Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins]. The Horn Book Guide, April 1, 2010.