Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

This review is part of MonsterLibrarian.com’s celebration of Banned Books Week. You can read all our reviews here.

McElderry; 1st Simon Pulse edition, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1416903574
Available: New and Used

Floored, that’s how readers will feel even when they are only part of the way into this breathtaking tale of three teens admitted to a mental care center after each has attempted suicide. While the book is large, 666 pages, it’s written in poetry form, so it’s a fast read. The terrible story of how these three kids, who should be enjoying the last years of high school, ended up where they are, is boiled down to terse, powerful, images that will leave readers feeling scarred.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It puts adults into the head space of serious teen suffering and offers teens a real, honest look at how addiction, parasitic relationships and mental disorders (like depression and bipolar disorder) work, washing it all with a message of sympathy and solidarity. There are an increasing number of books out there designed to help parents and teens understand and cope with the big, very real, problems that they face. But none that I’ve read have been as real as Impulse. It skips the clinical approach altogether and puts the reader directly into the characters’ heads, slowly revealing their lives, even as they themselves face up to the significance of things. Few books are must-reads in the large scope of fiction, but for teens and even parents suffering from or seeking to support someone who struggles with these issues, Impulse is a must-read. Nothing else crosses the barrier between “normal” and not with such strength and odd beauty. Impulse simply should be available in all public collections.

Contains: references to sex, addiction, self mutilation, suicide, language