Hopkins, Ellen. Burned. Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 2006. ISBN 9781416903543
Plot
Main character is Pattyn von Stratten a 16 year old Mormon girl who grapples with questioning the role of women in the church. She has many siblings and as the eldest daughter is expected to help out tremendously around her home, home ridden with domestic violence and alcoholism. She gets caught up in trouble in school and is sent with her independent aunt for a summer where she discovers the love for the outdoors, self -confidence, her first love and learns to drive. There is a twist of events as she is asked to return home, as she tries to escape her father and reunite with her summer love due to an unexpected pregnancy, but tragedy gets in the way.
Critical Evaluation
Love, rebellion, revenge, domestic violence, the role of women in the Mormon church are big themes in this book by Ellen Hopkins. As a seventeen year old she's responsible for her younger sisters (and protect them) and is expected to take her father's abuse of anger and alcoholism. She witnesses her mother get beaten by the father who is often drunk. She wants to leave and begin rebelling in her own way, and does not believe one bit in the Mormon tradition of women being property of their husbands. She "gets into trouble" and is sent away. There she begins to discover who she is. Although I was happy that Pattyn had her aunt, it was not believable to me that a strict Mormon father will send his older daughter to an aunt that he himself didn't agree with when they were younger. The aunt was the opposite of religious, allowed for Pattyn to drive, go out on dates and the like.
Aunt J is exactly who Pattyn needs and although as a reader I was happy to learn she had her, and her unconditional support, I could not get passed the fact that the father sent her there in the first place. Almost, as if he was in denial about his own sister's history and current situation. A reality dose struck back once the father learns about Pattyn and her pregnancy and is the culprit in Ethan's death and that of her baby.
Reader's Annotation
Book about a teenage young woman dealing with an abusive father, in a Mormon household finding her way when she's away with her aunt in Nevada and eventually her place in the world, despite what may appear as insurmountable odds.
Author Information
Was born in Long Beach, California, adopted by an older couple and later moved to Palm Springs, CA then Santa Barbara, CA. She had her children in her 20s and navigated a difficult relationship, with the father of her third child. She has been writing since she was a young girl, and started to write for pay at 38 years old. She is the author of twenty nonfiction titles, three novels for adults including New York Times bestselling thirteen young adult in-verse novels. She lives in Nevada with the love of her life, John Hopkins and has guardianship of her three grandchildren 11, 12 and 17. (Ellen Hopkins, nd)
Hopkins’ debut novel, entitled Crank, was published in 2004. It is loosely based on her adopted daughter’s addiction of crystal meth. The teenage drug addiction and sexual issues inspired Hopkins to explore these delicate subjects. The sensitivity of these issues had her book banned in many places. However, the content of the book also made it a required reading material for drug court programs and several high schools. She published the sequel, Glass, in 2007 and the third installment, Fallout, followed three years later. Another two-novel based young adult series, Burned (2006), was written in the free verse format. It charts the life and emotional problems of a seventeen-year-old who grows up in a dysfunctional family with an abusive father. Besides young adult novels, Ellen Hopkins also penned novels for her adult audience which include Triangles (2011) and Collateral (2012) and her next adult novel is due in the spring of 2015, titled Tangled.
Source: About. (n.d.). Ellen Hopkins. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from http://www.ellenhopkinsbooks.com/about.html.
Genre
Contemporary - In Verse
BookTalking Ideas
Conversation between Aunt J and Pattyn when she has to leave the conversation between them. On Pattyn knowing her place in the world and allowing others to define her and her dreams. How common is this would be the conversation and do folks have a person like this in their life.
Reading Level/Age Interest
Grade level: 9-12
Reading Age: 14 years +
Challenge Issues
Teen pregnancy, under age sex, profanity. I will defend it by the Library Bill of Rights and the Los Angeles County Library Collections policy. I would have an open ear, listen and discern while working to ensure the leadership of my library is in line with my advocacy in defending.
Why I Included This Book in Collections
Teen pregnancy, challenging religious upbringing, being responsible for younger siblings, and finding freedom in light of a dysfunctional family and physically abusive father, speaks about the fortitude of the human spirit. Being that young people are the target, I will get all of Ellen Hopkins books. She is amazing and has a rich collection and also interesting background that all can learn from. I want to include Crank as a matter of fact, I was told young people loved that book.
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