IDENTICAL - In relation to real life.

In a lot of ways, my life is like Raeanne's. Not quite the victim of direct harm, but close enough to be impacted. I think that personally, with the lack of attention and understanding from my parents, I go out of my way to fulfill the gap in my heart that should have never existed in the first place. Unlike Raeanne, I don't do drugs and I don't go for meaningless sex, but I do things to fulfill what I want in the moment and not in the long run because it is no longer about anyone else's opinions but about what I want in that single moment of bliss the actions bring. It is often easy to steer in the wrong ways, but you grow to believe that no one cares and what you do doesn't affect anyone else. In a lot of ways, I'm just like Raeanne to stir up trouble just so I can feel in control, and I did too, have a self-loathing era that led to certain strings of actions. But I forced myself back on track, all the while knowing that it is so much easier for the next time around when I steer myself off the road again.

What I love most about Ellen Hopkins's books is that she shows you the worst case senario that serve as warnings throughout the book from something that might seem unharmingly small but grow to devour you whole. And so, in that way, I think that her books can relate to most teenagers -- to relate to them, but also to inform and warn them with the subtle intentions to fright.