Fallout

Hopkins, E. (2010). Fallout. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. ISBN 1416950095

Plot Summary

                      Three teenagers damaged and abandoned by the same crystal meth addicted mother account their innermost struggles through three separate lives.  Unable to stay faithful, unable to resist impulse or temptation, stricken with self-doubt and anger, these characters bear the scars afflicted upon them by a lifetime of neglect and confusion.  Each one is fragile, flawed, terribly unsure, and seeking love and acceptance in their own misguided ways.  Hunter wrestles with infidelity despite how much he loves his understanding girlfriend.  Autumn finds solace in alcohol and a boyfriend whose intensity both thrills and scares her.  Summer’s first experience with love results in a secret pregnancy which she believes will keep the boy with her forever.  As the book progresses, Hunter, Autumn, and Summer’s scattered lives draw closer together towards an ending that will reunite them with each other, their mother, and a family barely known to them, an event that holds the possibility for explosive breaking down as well as much-needed release and reconnection.

Critical Analysis

                           Fallout is the conclusion to a trilogy based on these characters’ mother, Kristina, and her addiction.  The first two novels in the trilogy, Crank and Glass, explore her struggle with crystal meth and the ways in which it rapidly dismantles her family and her entire life.  In Fallout, however, Hopkins allows the reader to see the results of Kristina’s destructive behavior through the difficult lives of her abandoned children.  Kristina’s point of view is nonexistent.  The children tell the story, each in their own voice, their own font, and their own style of verse.  The style of this novel is what makes it so unique and intriguing.  Hopkins uses dialog and inner monologue to create a filigree of words that speak through their shape on the page, their format, and their spacing.  In many of the poems, a vertical column of words spaced apart from their verse run down the page and tell a different story than the one presented in the poem, in much the same way a character might act one way but think something entirely opposite.  This use of spacing to create depth and inner conflict is both subtle and striking.  Her point of view is complicated, switching from one character to the next by way of font and style.  It takes some time to immediately detect when there has been a switch, but once the reader is immersed, the characters’ separate voices become obvious.  In Hunter there is a tone of cocksure anger, in Autumn loneliness and cynicism, and in Summer hesitancy and hopelessness.  Hopkins’ plot structure is arresting.  As the book progresses, the braid of these three siblings’ scattered lives winds tighter and tighter.  There is an agony in this, anticipating the crash with their poisonous mother at a Thanksgiving dinner that promises anything but gratitude – but there is also hope that they will find in each other the understanding, solace, and relief that they cannot find in the outside world.

               

Reader’s Annotation

                                 The difficult lives of three siblings stranded by their crystal meth addicted mother draw closer and closer together as they each come to terms with their own wounds.

About the Author

                            Ellen Hopkins was adopted by older parents who nurtured her love of reading and writing and instilled in her the honesty and work ethic that fuels her career today.  Her birth mother, who she later found, is also a writer.  She grew up with a younger brother, also adopted, in an affluent part of Palm Springs where her neighbors were celebrities such as Kirk Douglas and Elvis Presley.  In college she studied journalism but quit to get married.  With her first husband, she had three children and started her own business.  Her marriage failed and when she remarried, she sold her business and focused full-time on her writing.  Now she and her husband live in Nevada with one adopted son where they participate in outdoor sports and raise German Shepherds.

                         Hopkins has written five novels on controversial topics such as drug addiction, teen pregnancy, sex, and domestic violence.  All of them have been on the New York Times Bestseller list.  She has also written over twenty nonfiction novels for young adults.

Genre

         Alternate Formats - novels in verse

Challenge Issues

                          Possible challenge issues in this book include teen pregnancy, sex, promiscuity, drug use, alcohol, profanity, and truancy.  In the event of a challenge, I would consult the challenge defense file prepared for this book.  The challenge defense file would include: positive reviews from credible sources for the purpose of proving merit to the challenger; negative reviews in order to inform me on what might be challenged; a written explanation of my own rationale for including the book in the collection as well as a summary of the plot; the American Library Association Bill of Rights; a review of my branch’s selection policy; and, as a last resort, an explanation of the reconsideration policy for my library and an official reconsideration form.

Curriculum Ties

                         English and Writing: prose poetry, voice, and form.

Booktalk

              Summer, Autumn, and Hunter are siblings flung apart by their neglectful mother - very different, yet bearing the same scars from their difficult childhoods, or the lack of childhood altogether.  Each character is represented by a different font, a different voice, and a different set of insecurities that the reader will find themselves identifying with.  The form of this novel is beautiful and unique - prose poetry that spells out more on the page than mere words - and the story is timeless, a quest for love in a harsh world.

Reading Level and Interest Age

                                                   Grades 9-12, although older teens might get more out of the alternative form and mature subject matter.

                                                  

Why I Included This Book

                                          Novels in verse are appealing to teens because they are accessible and quick to read.  However, the content is impactful and as such will resonate with them long after.  Additionally this novel is told from the viewpoint of characters who have been deeply affected by drug use, rather than drug users themselves, so there is a unique perspective here that differs from many novels about drugs.  That's why I believe it would enrich any collection.

References

Hopkins, E. (2010). Fallout. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. ISBN 1416950095