Currently.

This week I started reading Tricks by Ellen Hopkins. I just started reading her books this year and I really like them!! This book is a little different from the other books of hers that I have read. This book still has a lot of drug use but it isn't just about drugs. It is about prostitution too.

Description from inside book:

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching...for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don't expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words "I love you" are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story -- a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, "Can I ever feel okay about myself?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Characters:

Eden Streit is an innocent girl. She really is. Her mother and father are both heavily religious folk, her dad being the lead priest of their local church, and her mom being the trophy wife that he's always proud to come home to. Eden and her sister Eve are both obedient and never cause any trouble. But when a boy who is two years older than Eden, named Andrew, decides to come into Eden's life and sweep her off her feet, her parents are not happy. In fact, they send Eden away so she can reform her sins.
And Eden will do
absolutely anything to get
out of that horrible place.
Anything.



Seth Parnell is an Indiana country farm boy. He lives with his father, and they are both living through a terrible loss. The loss of a wife, and a mother. Seth also has to deal with the fact that he's gay. So when Seth decides to act on his urges, he comes to face to face with a nice man named Loren. Everything seems good for a little while, with Loren treating Seth out to musical theater and to eat at fancy dining, but good things never last. So when Seth is cast out on his own to survive, there is nothing much he can barter with... besides his body.

Whitney Lang is the epitome of popularity and beauty. Although she would probably be better off without her mom and sister, she still has her loving dad and caring boyfriend Lucas to come home to every day. But what happens when Whitney gives something away to Lucas, something precious that a girl must be careful with, it turns out that Lucas dumps her because of it. Whitney makes a rash decision driven by teenage rebellion - a decision she will soon regret.

Ginger Cordell just might wants
 to be a writer when she grows up. But it's hard to focus on that when she has to take care of her four brothers and sisters, especially when her mom is always out hooking up with strange men to pay the rent. She is sick of always being surrounded by the stench and disgusting feeling of sex, so she decides to run away with her friend. But this change of scenery will not be just any walk in the park.

Cody Bennett has a nice, civil family. He has a younger brother named Cory, a loving mom, and a stepfather named Jack. He pretty much is living the life. But when Jack suddenly passes away, his family is torn apart and sinks faster than the Titanic while hitting the iceberg. With his mom out of commission and a younger brother that gets sent to juvy, Cody has to find a way to pay the bills somehow, right?

All of these teenagers turn to prostitution of some sort to get by. I haven't finished the book yet, but I don't have much left to go so I am anxious as to how it ends.

Favorite Sentences of the week:

“Some people never find the right kind of love. You know, the kind that steals your breath away, like diving into snow melt. The kind that jolts your heart, sets it beating apace, an anxious hiccuping of hummingbird wings.... "

“Even without them touching me, I feel dirty about what I do. Alex does even filthier things but says it all washes off with soap. I don’t believe that. I think it all leaves stains. Indelible stains.”

“Eyes Tell Stories
But do they know how
to craft fiction? Do
they know how to spin
lies?
His eyes swear forever,
flatter with vows of only
me. But are they empty
promises?
I stare into his eyes, as   
into a crystal ball, but
I cannot find forever,
only
movies of yesterday,
a sketchbook of today,
dreams of a shared
tomorrow.
His eyes whisper secrets.
But are they truths or fairy tales?
I wonder if even he
knows.”

Pages read this week: 488

Pages read this semester: 2968