Burned by Ellen Hopkins

ISBN: 9781416903543
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books. (2006)
531 p.

Reading Level: Grade 9 and up.

Summary:

Pattyn is a 17-year-old girl who lives in a tight world of family and Mormonism. She keeps up appearances at church and school, but the cycle of abuse from her father as he downs his liquor continues to rain upon her mother in the form of fists and verbal abuse. Not being able to take all the secrets in her life, Pattyn starts to experiment with boys and alcohol, ending badly when her unbalanced father finds her and a boy in an awkward predicament. After punching a classmate in the face, a release because the girl spoke badly of her, she’s sent to live with her father’s sister, Aunt J. There she learns to receive love and give love, as well as the liberating realization that she doesn’t need her religion to be a whole person. She also meets Ethan who, after a whirlwind summer romance, she comes to regard as her soul mate. As the summer ends, and after learning that because of her mother’s pregnancy her father is now beating her sister, she returns home. A series of events leads to an outcome that Pattyn, Ethan, and those in her religious community could not have imagined. Although the ending may shock some readers, most of them will read it with love and a wish to save Pattyn from herself.

Critical Evaluation:
This was the first of Hopkins’s novels that I read, and I was immediately drawn in with her use of language. Not only is the structural style throughout the book a unique way to craft a novel, but it also alerts the reader to the rhythm of how to read the words. The use of strong imagery was also utilized to convey the rich emotion of this subject matter, living and surviving abuse.

“Aunt J
had opened herself wide
I didn’t want her to bleed out.” (p. 263).

Another factor that drove the story forward was the rich foreshadowing that is weaved into the words that Pattyn speaks. One example comes after a fire broke out which Ethan and his father helped to contain, while Pattyn and her aunt carried provisions to the exhausted firefighters.

“You’ll only find happy
endings in books.

Some books.” (p. 420)

One of my favorite things about this novel is its lack of a sweet conclusion. As the author wrote on her website, “I didn't start out to write Burned about any religion, but about a girl who winds up in a Columbine-type situation.” (Retrieved from http://www.ellenhopkins.com/Burned.html). There are moments of love, heartbreak, suffering, and happiness, which happen in any life. This novel is definitely for mature teens for the words spring from the page in constant waves of sorrow and joy.

Reader’s Annotation:

Love and acceptance are so hard to find for a girl who yearns to be free of her demons.

Finding solace or disowned, it seems Pattyn can only have one, not both.

Author Biography:

Ellen Hopkins is a prolific writer and poet of over 20 non-fiction titles and many bestselling novels-in-verse. She has also published a myriad of articles dealing with subjects ranging from child abuse to aviation to winegrowing. Hopkins also mentors other authors as a regional adviser for the Nevada chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), as well as speaking at schools, book festivals, and writer conferences.

Hopkins has been a magazine editor, screenwriter, freelance journalist, reporter, and owner of a video store. She’s also received many awards and nominations from Quills Award, the Book Sense Top 10, PSLA Top Ten for Teens, the Charlotte Award, and the IRAYoung Adult Choices Award.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties:

This novel would make a welcome addition to a creative writing class or an English class—as a fine example of writing in verse—or in a social studies class for a section on abuse.

Booktalking Ideas:

-How does a novel written in modern verse impact the reader?

-How are Derek and Ethan different?

-How could a teen go about seeking help in such a close-knit society
as the one Pattyn lives in?

Read-Alikes:

Other novels by Ellen Hopkins, which include:

Crank, Glass, Fallout, Impulse, Identical, Tricks, Perfect, Triangles, Tilt and Smoke.

-Escape by Carolyn Jessop.

-Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

-Because I am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas.

-God Went to Beauty School by Cynthia Rylant.

-Keesha’s House by Helen Frost.

Challenge Issue:

This novel has been criticized for the depiction of the Mormon Church as un-protective of women and children under the brutal men in their lives as well as a legacy of violence and subservience that women go through in the book. I would have to say that, of course, this book does not say all Mormons are bad people, such as Aunt J and her late husband, but it is probably not for Mormons on their chosen path who feel at home in their families and their religion. This is a novel for those children who do suffer domestic violence under the guise of religion and feel they have nowhere to turn to. It is to be hoped that this story will help others not to succumb to the heartbreaking ending, but rather choose to free themselves by reaching out for help.

Reason to include in blog:

During my interviews with teens for the Digital Paper topic, Ellen Hopkins and all of her work came up as favorites of teens. The writing style of the author as well as the subject matter interested me, so I thought it would be a good addition to this blog.

References:

Hopkins, E. (2006). Burned: . New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Hopkins, E. (n.d.). Burned. Retrieved from http://www.ellenhopkins.com/Burned.html