Burned- Ellen Hopkins

I was lucky enough to buy a copy of this book from the local Goodwill (where I also work btw).  I was pretty excited to get a YA book that is pretty new.  It is also a book that I had tried repeatedly to get from the library a year ago but it was always checked out.  This book is by the author of Smack, a book which I have discussed before.

Just like Smack, this book is written in verse.  It’s a really fun format.  As I was reading it, I thought it would  be a cool experiment to try with students; The idea of writing a book through verse.   It would be neat to try and form a larger body of work by writing small, tangible pieces.

The book deals with many heavy topics like religion, loss of faith, abusive parents, and teen sex.  I am not entirely sure how I feel with the way religion is portrayed in the book.  It deals mainly with extreme Mormonism and not in a very positive light.  I don’t personally take offense, but I think that some parents might be up in arms over this aspect of the novel more than the any other topic in the book.  Especially with all of the The Golden Compass controversy, it seems to be a heated subject.  But, kids are getting more mature faster these days and many of them are questioning the faith of the parents earlier.  I think the key point of the religion factor in the book is that the faith discussed is an extreme view and is not a typical case.

Overall I enjoyed reading the book, a little too much teen mushy love for my taste, but I am old and jaded.  The part that really was strange was the ending.  It really kind of comes out of the blue and left me going, “What the?”  I’m not really sure the final actions of the main character at the end are supported by the picture that has been created up to that point.  I was pretty turned off by the end in all honesty.  To be blunt, I thought it was pretty ridiculous.  I browsed about online to see what others felt.  Apparently the kids like the book a lot….

“This book was so awesome!! It makes you want to keep reading the book and not put it down! I know usually don’t like reading but when I started reading this book I just couldn’t stop and I actually finished it in the same day. At the end it made me cry. Everyone should read this book it is so amazing and you definatly won’t regret it”

“this was possibly one of the saddest books i’ve ever read. it adressed a lot of the topics that i had been questioning too: about faith, love, and a women’s role. it was so good i read it all in one sitting at barnes and nobles and had many people staring at me when i started bawling at the end of the book. definatly worth it though– excellent book ”

“i read the book in one day too. And i did what everyone else did. I lauphed, and cried. and thought about how i related to her. And then cried some more=]. I just like these sorts of books. They put everything into perspective for you. They let you put them down, and return to reality. For me, thats even sadder than the book. but for some…it makes em happy. Happy and thankful. For all that they do have.
=]] ”

more here

But, Miss Kimberly Pauley at www.yabookscentral.com seems to have my back on this one:

“The moment I turned the last page, I had two reactions: 1) What the heck just happened?? And 2) (and this one I actually said aloud, startling my cats) “Well, that was about the most depressing thing ever.” Before I go any farther, I should give you some background about me that will help you (hopefully) understand my reaction to this book.

I’m not an overly religious person. I’m pretty much a “believe as you like” kind of gal. I don’t really understand a lot of religious groups (The Church of Latter-Day Saints included), but I’m not necessarily against them either. The author – or, giving the benefit of the doubt – the main character feels that everything and everyone involved with the Church is evil. Like I said, I don’t understand them, but I find it hard to believe that everyone in this particular town are small-minded, evil, religious zealots” read the rest

Ellen Hopkins actually comments on Pauley’s review.  Behold.

Not my favorite, but a good read for the style alone.