Title: Burned
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Simon Pulse
ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-0354-3 (hc)


ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-0355-0 (pbk)


Pattyn Scarlet Von Stratten feels trapped within her Mormon family. With an abusive alcoholic father, a mother who can't stop having baby's, and controversial religious views, she has had enough. She starts dating a boy, who isn't Mormon. All is good, until her father finds out through some friends. Her boyfriend, scared because of a death threat her father told him, breaks up with her. Confused and angry for weeks, she does some regrettable things. When her mother gets pregnant, again, her father feels it is necessary to send Pattyn away, to remove some stress off of her mother. Her parents send her to her Aunt Jeanette's ranch in Nevada. There, she learns what life is like without Mormon rules and little kids to take care of. She finds what we are all looking for, true love. She also learns that as quickly as fate can give you everything, it can take it all away.

Ellen Hopkins studied journalism at the University of California, Santa Barbra, but she dropped out to have a family. Only to have that marriage fail. She has three children and is now living with her husband in Nevada.

Hopkins obvious objective with this book was to show teens what it is like to live in a strict religious, and abusive family. But, in her note at the end of the book, she wrote that she didn't want the history of Nevada's above-ground nuclear testing to die along with it's survivors. She did an excellent job doing so. Her insight on what it would be like to be Pattyn, to be in her situation and the confusion she must be feeling is impeccable. For example: 'Love is just another word for sex.'

This book is written in verse, a poetic look into the life of a teenager, living through horrible things. Writing this book in verse shows you things you wouldn't get from a book in written in prose, all her emotions can be described perfectly and poetically. But writing it in that style could also limits our knowledge of the characters, plot... But Hopkins managed to write in verse without losing any of the story.

For me, this was one of the most interesting, emotional books I have ever read. It reads very quickly, I finished it in a day or two, but I will never forget it. I recommend this book to everyone, it's a must read.