Reviewed by HootRated editorial · Last updated
Crank
Ellen Hopkins
The text is written at an 8th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content is intense and may include graphic or distressing scenes. Its HootRating code, IE, means intense content, mostly emotional.
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About This Book
The sharp sting of cold air fills the room as the sharp crackle of a cigarette sparks a dangerous path. Every breath tastes bitter with secrets and choices that could change everything. Can one girl find her way back when the shadows of addiction grow ever darker?
Themes
Quick Assessment
Based on a real-life event and told in verse, this novel follows a teen girl who slides from experimenting with drugs and alcohol into serious addiction, including drug use, sexual situations, and a painful home life marked by child abuse and domestic violence. Parents should know that the story also includes a parent's death, a broken bone, and a baby's crying, and it portrays the consequences of addiction honestly rather than softening them. Its mature themes make it best suited to older teens, and it works well as a conversation starter about choices, family, and recovery.
Why we rated Crank IE (Intense)
Crank is written at a Level 8 reading level across 537 pages. Upper Grades (Ages 13+) is the typical interest range for this book — readers in that age band have the maturity and attention span suited to the story, separate from whether they can decode the words.
We rate Crank as IE (Intense, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Intense" range — intense conflict including peril, frightening scenes, or emotionally heavy themes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight, physical peril, social complexity, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Drug Abuse, Addiction.
Thematically, Crank explores drug abuse, juvenile fiction, high school, and coming of age — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about drug abuse, juvenile fiction, high school.
Maybe not for
- ! Sensitive readers who get overwhelmed by intense conflict or scary scenes.
- ! Children younger than 13 — the content intensity is above what most younger kids can process comfortably.
For Parents
Content Intensity
IE · Intense · EmotionalReading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate
Heavy themes explored in depth. War, death, abuse addressed directly.
Content Flags
Was our "Intense" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Discussion Potential
2/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9781442471818
- Pages
- 537
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
- Published
- 2013
- Type
- Fiction