"When all choice is taken from you, life becomes a game of survival." 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?" A brilliant achievement from New York Times best-selling author Ellen Hopkins -- who has been called "the bestselling living poet in the country" by mediabistro.com -- Tricks is a book that turns you on and repels you at the same time. Just like so much of life.
With her characteristic grittiness, Ellen Hopkins has created an intense verse novel about the lives of five teenagers who have one thing in common: trading sex for money. Each teen finds that they have almost no choice when their lives crumble. Whitney turns to exactly the wrong person when she doesn't get the love she needs from her family, while Eden finds herself banished to a religious camp after being caught with her boyfriend by her very Christian parents. Alex is forced to leave home due to his sexuality, and Cody must keep his family afloat. And Ginger's mother is a prostitute who hasn't provided a stable home life. Eventually, their stories converge into one powerful strand. Hopkins is the author of CRANK, GLASS, and BURNED.
- Genre: Juvenile Fiction
- Subgenre: Family / General, General
- Age: Teen
- Publisher: Margaret K McElderry
- Pages: 627
- Language: English
- Format: hardcover
- Release Date: August 25, 2009
- Date Published: August 25, 2009
- Author: Ellen Hopkins