Crank Series.

Crank.

Ellen Hopkins.

DEDICATION.

This book is dedicated to my family, and all families whose lives have been touched by the monster.

With special thanks to Lin Oliver and Steve Mooser and their wonderful SCBWI, which guided my way.

AUTHOR'S NOTE While this work is fiction, it is loosely based on a very true story-my daughter's. The monster did touch her life, and the lives of her family. My family. It is hard to watch someone you love fall so deeply under the spell of a substance that turns him or her into a stranger. Someone you don't even want to know.

Nothing in this story is impossible. Much of it happened to us, or to families like ours. Many of the characters are composites of real people. If they ring true, they should. The "baby" at the end of the book is now seven years old, and my husband and I have adopted him. He is thriving now, but it took a lot of extra love.

If this story speaks to you, I have accomplished what I set out to do. Crank is, indeed, a monster-one that is tough to leave behind once you invite it into your life. Think twice. Then think again.

Crank.

Flirtin' with the Monster.

Introduction.

Alone

On Bree

More on Bree

My Mom Will Tell You

Aboard United 1425

Two Hours into the Flight

Hot Landing

The Prince of Albuquerque

Mutual a.s.sessment

I Got in a Car with a Stranger

Small Talk Shrank to Minuscule

You Call This a Castle?

Not My Type

At Least I Had Something

Dad Had to Go to Work

He Worked in a Bowling Alley

I Opted Out

Not Quite Silent

The Screaming

Of Course, When I Was Little

Okay, Over the Last Few Years

Dad Hadn't Paid His Cable Bill

The Rules

She Went Inside

I Must Have Moaned

The Wind Blew Up

Bree? Who Was She?