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Banned Books Review: Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

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Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Tricks
Ellen Hopkins
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published August 25, 2009

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Tricks

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?”

My Review

I think it’s interesting that the cover copy of the book only mentions one of the queer characters. There are two point-of-view characters who are queer: Seth, who’s gay, and Ginger, who’s a lesbian. I wish the cover copy included mention of her.

This is a pretty dark book, but that’s kind of Ellen Hopkins’s brand. Tricks is the fourth book of hers that I’ve read, but it’s the first one I’ve read in a long time. Her books offer unflinching tales of teens enduring the kinds of hardships we are tempted to reduce to statistics.

Including five perspectives in a single novel in verse makes this a pretty ambitious project. We meet five different teens with five different back stories from five different parts of the country, so that’s a lot to track as we shuffle from one point of view to another. Some of the characters come from homes that seem stable and even loving. Others have already experienced deeply scarring trauma. Some of the character descriptions felt so abbreviated as to almost make them stereotypes. At least part of that may be because of the number of point-of-view characters in the book and the spare format of verse storytelling.

I think the book is also a product of its day, too. Since 2009, we’ve had a lot more conversations about the harmful effect of slut-shaming or perpetuating the stigma of prostitution. As I read, I found myself wondering how those more recent conversations might impact the words characters use.

The story doesn’t romanticize human trafficking. If anything, it’s a cautionary tale showing how, under the wrong circumstances, anyone can become a victim of trafficking. The author’s note in the backmatter encourages readers who need help to call a hotline specifically for teens in danger.

Tricks is One of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2023

Tricks was one of the top ten most challenged books of 2023. Among the reasons I saw cited for the challenges and book bans were that it contains queer characters, references to rape, and sexually explicit content.

Tricks does contain some explicit content. The graphic scenes are short and point up the danger characters face, the powerful emotions at play, or the way their relationships are evolving. This isn’t a book that will appeal to or be appropriate for every reader, but it’s a story and message that will resonate with some.

Content Notes for Tricks

Content warning for drug use, sexual assault, child abuse, and brief gun violence.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Two characters are queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some use of the F-bomb and other profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Slut-shaming language used. References to sex and sex work. References to sexual assault and scenes briefly showing the assault. Kissing between two boys, two girls, or a boy and girl. A couple of scenes reference sex between more than two people.

Spiritual Content
References to Christian services and faith practices. References to faith used to control others’ behavior and abuse them.

Violent Content
References to and brief descriptions of sexual assault. References to a child hit by a car. A parent physically abuses their child and then drugs them. More than one character is in the power of an abusive romantic partner. One character is locked in a room with no food for days and kept in abusive conditions for longer. In one scene, a person with a gun shoots several others.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol and use marijuana and hard drugs. One character also becomes addicted to gambling.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: Light Enough to Float by Lauren Seal

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Light Enough to Float
Lauren Seal
Rocky Pond Books
Published October 8, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Light Enough to Float

Deeply moving and authentic, this debut novel-in-verse follows teenage Evie through her eating disorder treatment and recovery―a Wintergirls for a new generation.

Evie has just barely acknowledged that she has an eating disorder when she’s admitted to an inpatient treatment facility. Now her days are filled with calorie loading, therapy sessions, and longing—for home, for control, and for the time before her troubles began. As the winter of her treatment goes on, she gradually begins to face her fears and to love herself again, with the help of caregivers and of peers who are fighting their own disordered-eating battles. This insightful, beautiful novel will touch every reader and offer hope and understanding to those who need it most.

My Review

I love this story’s novel-in-verse format. It really focuses on Evie’s emotions and experiences and keeps us in the present with her. The cover copy compares Light Enough to Float with Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. As I read the book, I thought of some moments in Wintergirls.

Whereas Wintergirls focuses on the relationship between two girls and their harmful impacts on one another, this novel stays more focused on Evie herself. Evie does have a relationship with another girl that leaves readers questioning the helpfulness of the friendship, but her own journey stays front and center.

Light Enough to Float feels as deeply personal as it is. Evie brings readers into the center of her anguish, fear, and shame. But she also draws readers forward into her hope and her journey toward healing. Those moments stay grounded, reminding us that there’s no light-switch fix, but they show what recovery can look like and leave us rooting for Evie every step of her journey.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Evie and other characters in the book have disordered eating. Evie also has dermotillomania, a condition that causes her to pick at her scalp, harming herself.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some swearing, including rare F-bombs, used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Descriptions of disordered eating and self-harm. Reference to a suicide attempt (happens off-scene).

Drug Content
Reference to a drug overdose (off-scene).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Learning to Fall by Sally Engelfried

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Learning to Fall
Sally Engelfried
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published September 6, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Learning to Fall

Twelve-year-old Daphne reconciles with her father, who left her stranded three years ago and learns forgiveness one fall at a time in this heartwarming debut by Sally Engelfried. For fans of The​ First Rule of Punk.

Daphne doesn’t want to be stuck in Oakland with her dad. She wants to get on the first plane to Prague, where her mom is shooting a movie. Armed with her grandparents’ phone number and strict instructions from her mom to call them if her dad starts drinking again, Daphne has no problem being cold to him. But there’s one thing Daphne can’t keep herself from joining her dad and her new friend Arlo at a weekly skate session.  When her dad promises to teach her how to ollie and she lands the trick, Daphne starts to believe in him again. He starts to show up for her, and Daphne learns things are not as black and white with her dad as she used to think. The way Daphne’s dad tells it, skating is all about accepting failure and moving on. But can Daphne really let go of her dad’s past mistakes? Either way life is a lot like it’s all about getting back up after you fall. 

My Review

I’ve been struggling a bit with reading lately, but you’d never know it if you watched me read this one. I read the entire story in a single sitting because I simply couldn’t stop.

Daphne has so many powerful experiences and is so easy to identify with. She quit skateboarding after an accident left her physically and emotionally bruised. Then, she has to move in with her dad, the person who got her interested in skating to begin with. She’s got a lot of doubts and bad feelings about him since he all but disappeared from her life for a few years. As she gets to know him again, she has to decide whether she can trust him. She also gains some new perspective on his disappearance, and sees her relationship with her mom in a new light, too.

This story expertly balances a young narrator and complex adult issues. Daphne’s dad is an alcoholic in recovery, and while he never drinks alcohol on-scene, he does get real with Daphne about his past struggles, how he feels in difficult moments, and his regrets. Daphne also realizes that her relationship with her mom, whom she idolizes, isn’t as simple as she once thought. Though it’s not the central point of the story, the narrative does an excellent job of showing how it feels to grapple with complex relationships and realize that people aren’t simply one thing or one way.

All in all, I loved this one both for its girl skater rep and its brave exploration of complex emotions and relationships. Give this one to fans of Gillian McDunn.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Daphne and her family are white. Her dad is an alcoholic in recovery. Daphne’s neighbors are Latino.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Daphne’s neighbor’s girlfriend and son move in with him.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Daphne recalls falling and getting hurt after some boys say cruel things to her. She hears a loud bang, and discovers that her dad threw something in the other room. He apologizes.

Drug Content
Daphne’s dad used to drink a lot of alcohol and talks frankly about mistakes he made while he was drinking, such as making promises he’d forget.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of LEARNING TO FALL in exchange for my honest review.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays. Check out other blogs posting about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Review: The Search for Us by Susan Azim Boyer

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The Search for Us
Susan Azim Boyer
Wednesday Books
Published October 24, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Search for Us

“A sharp-witted and illuminating, impressive sophomore novel.” – Isaac Blum, author of the award-nominated The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

Two half-siblings who have never met embark on a search together for the Iranian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran father they never knew.

Samira Murphy will do anything to keep her fractured family from falling apart, including caring for her widowed grandmother and getting her older brother into recovery for alcohol addiction. With attendance at her dream college on the line, she takes a long shot DNA test to find the support she so desperately needs from a father she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.

Henry Owen is torn between his well-meaning but unreliable bio-mom and his overly strict aunt and uncle, who stepped in to raise him but don’t seem to see him for who he is. Looking to forge a stronger connection to his own identity, he takes a DNA test to find the one person who might love him for exactly who he is―the biological father he never knew.

Instead of a DNA match with their father, Samira and Henry are matched with each other. They begin to search for their father together and slowly unravel the difficult truth of their shared past, forming a connection that only siblings can have and recovering precious parts of their past that have been lost. Brimming with emotional resonance, Susan Azim Boyer’s THE SEARCH FOR US beautifully renders what it means to find your place in the world through the deep and abiding power of family.

My Review

Stories about the power of family, both found family and biological family, always hit me deep. This book is no exception. It has a lot of layers, which I think is hard to do well, but is well done here. The story feels full rather than crowded. The issues Henry and Samira face tie together and bring them together in unexpected ways.

As a person who grew up with a view of alcoholism in my extended family, a lot of things in the story about Samira and her impulses and beliefs really resonated with me. I liked the way the story addressed her codependency and tendency to “over-function” or control situations.

The chapters alternate between Samira’s and Henry’s points of view. I really liked both of them as characters, so it was really easy to get into the story. The chapters each had so much going on that I felt propelled from one to the next all the way to the end of the book. It felt like a really quick read.

All in all, I loved the messages about family, forgiveness, and relationships in this book. I think readers who enjoyed books like YOU’D BE HOME NOW by Kathleen Glasgow or YOU HAVE A MATCH by Emma Lord will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Henry and Samira are biracial, both Iranian and white. Samira’s best friend identifies as bisexual. Henry’s girlfriend, Linh, is Vietnamese and adopted by white parents.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Brief statement about “roaming hands” during a makeout session between a boy and girl. Samira’s best friend describes crushes on both boys and girls.

Spiritual Content
A man discusses his experience with Islamophobia. Someone defaces his Koran. He’s not allowed to pray when he should be able to.

Violent Content
Some references to Islamophobia. Henry fights a boy in a hockey game and later hits a man in a gas station he perceives as threatening.

Drug Content
Samira’s brother and two other relatives have alcohol use disorder. Henry’s girlfriend, Linh, smokes weed.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE SEARCH FOR US in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Constellations by Kate Glasheen

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Constellations
Kate Glasheen
Holiday House
Published May 23, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Constellations

A debut graphic novel about a queer teen living in the margins who is determined to find their way ahead.

Are you supposed to be a boy or a girl?

It’s a question that follows Claire everywhere. Inescapable on the street, in school, and even at home. A black hole forever trying to pull them in. But as long as they have ride-or-die best friend Greg at their side and a drink in their hand, everything will be okay. Right?

Except, Claire can never have just one drink. And when harassment at school reaches a fever pitch, Claire begins a spiral that ends in court-ordered rehab. Feeling completely lost, Claire is soon surrounded by a group of new friends and, with the help of a patient counselor, finds a space to unpack all the bad they’ve experienced. But as Claire’s release gets closer so does the Can Claire stay sober and true in a world seemingly never made for them?

Set in 1980s Troy, New York, Constellations is a portrait of a queer teen living in the margins but determined to find their way ahead. Done in watercolor and ink, debut author-artist Kate Glasheen has created a world where strong lines meet soft color, and raw emotions meet deep thought in this story of hope, humor, and survival.

“A unique journey that doesn’t turn away from hard truths; courageously honest and vulnerable.”—Iasmin Omar Ata, the Ignatz Award winning creator of Mis(h)adra.

My Review

What a moving story. At the beginning, we meet Claire and get a view of the town, which has kind of shrunk in on itself following factory closures. There are people Claire once felt connected to that aren’t here anymore. I love the those people and missing things are drawing as though they’re on a piece of notebook paper that’s been torn out of a notebook. Like pages ripped out of a journal– perhaps the one we see Claire sketching in from time to time. I thought that whole idea was really clever.

A lot of the story takes place while Claire is in rehab. I liked the way those chapters were presented, too. It felt like going on the journey with Claire and peeling back layers of why this happened. Why alcohol? Why is it so hard to stop? What are you running from? I felt like the way the story unfolded really drew me into those questions and made me feel Claire wrestling with the answers.

Overall, I think CONSTELLATIONS contains some powerful visual storytelling, and I’m really excited that I got to read it. I hope this author writes a lot more.

Content Notes

Brief depiction of sexual assault and references to abuse. Alcoholism and addiction.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Claire has questions about gender identity. Neither of the labels “boy” or “girl” are a good fit. Claire is also an alcoholic. Other characters have addictions to drugs and alcohol and are attending rehab.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
A couple of girls kiss Claire.

At one point, a group of boys begin taunting Claire and one grabs Claire’s groin.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy in the rehab program talks about how his father beats him. Others describe emotional abuse or neglect. These are brief descriptions. Panels show teens fighting a couple of times.

Claire remembers an instance in which a nun forced Claire to stand outside in front of others with no pants on.

Drug Content
At the start of the story, Claire drinks alcohol at every opportunity. Claire shares the number of family members who are also alcoholic. At rehab, others share their addictions. Some of the rehab participants return to using drugs or alcohol after they leave the program.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of CONSTELLATIONS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe

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Dark Room Etiquette
Robin Roe
HarperTeen
Published October 11, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Dark Room Etiquette

Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything—until he’s kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he’s been living is based on a lie.

Trapped in a windowless room, without knowing why he’s been taken or how long the man plans to keep him shut away, Sayers faces a terrifying new reality. To survive, he must forget the world he once knew, and play the part his abductor has created for him.

But as time passes, the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, and Sayers begins to wonder if he can escape . . . before he loses himself.

My Review

My feelings about this book range from strong to very strong. At the beginning, Sayers isn’t a very likeable guy. Sure, he’s not the one actively tormenting another boy in his class. He’s just the one standing by, watching it happen. He’s spoiled, rude, and unaffected by other people’s pain. We get to know this version of him over the first quarter or so of the book.

Then he gets kidnapped by someone who seems to be deeply unwell. At first Sayers refuses to cooperate with his abductor. But as time goes on and escape continues to be an impossibility, he does what he must in order to survive.

The book feels like an exploration of what trauma does to someone. Both in the way it breaks someone down, and in the way that it leaves permanent marks on that person’s life, even after the traumatic event is over.

I’m not at all an expert on trauma or how it affects anyone. I’ve watched someone close to me grapple with past trauma, and some of the things Sayers does and says were familiar to me because of that experience. I liked that the whole story wasn’t an exploration of the trauma itself. I liked that Sayers formed different relationships and that his relationships operated differently as he began to piece things back together. He valued different things. He wanted different things. But he also wasn’t capable of some of the things he’d been capable of before.

So there were lots of things I liked, but it was a hard book to read. I think the hardest part was witnessing the breakdown Sayers endures during his captivity.

Readers who enjoyed A LIST OF CAGES will enjoy DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE. I think fans of WHAT UNBREAKABLE LOOKS LIKE by Kate McLaughlin should check this one out.

Content Notes

Content warning for drug use, bullying, torture, assault, murder, suicide, and references to sexual assault.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
One significant minor character is Latine. Sayers’ best friend is bisexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
A classmate discusses her faith openly. Later, Sayers prays with a girl.

Violent Content
Sayers witnesses a boy bullying another student. A boy takes another boy into the woods, clearly intending to harm him. Sayers’ abductor hits him and keeps him chained or locked up, sometimes starving him and another person. Sayers discovers bodies of boys who were murdered. He witnesses someone die by suicide. He learns that someone sexually assaulted another person.

Drug Content
At the beginning of the book, Sayers prefers drugs that will make him feel amped up. Late in the story, he smokes weed, using it to calm himself down.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE in exchange for my honest review.