#38--Tricks

Bibliographic Information

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins. Margaret K. McElderry Books (2011).

Price: $10.99 for paperback

Pages: 656 for paperback

Note: This book was originally published in 2009.

Plot Summary

Tricks follows the story of five teenagers all of whose lives intertwine once they reach Las Vegas, Nevada. Of course, none of the teens imagine they will end up in Sin City initially. Sixteen-year old Eden Streit lives in Utah with her pastor father and strict mother. She does her best to live by their rules but unfortunately falls in love with Andrew, a boy who does not belong to their church. She knows that she cannot hide their relationship from her parents forever but has no idea how terrible her life will become once they discover her secret.

Seth Parnell lives with his father in Indiana. His mother died from cancer when Seth was younger leaving him and his father to do the best that they can. Seth has always known from a young age that he was different from other boys but it is not until he is a teenager that he realizes that he is gay. This, of course, poses problems for him as he lives in a conservative town. Eventually, he starts living a double life—dutiful son at home, sophisticated boyfriend in another town. Seth does not like living a lie but does not know how to tell his father that he is gay. Seth, of course, cannot imagine that finally revealing this fact to his Dad will cause him to be kicked out of the house with nowhere to go.

Fifteen-year old Whitney Lang lives in Santa Cruz, California with her preoccupied mother and workaholic father. She rarely sees her father, whom she loves, as he lives up in San Francisco during the week so he can avoid commuting home. As for her mother, they have always had an icy relationship as her mother prefers Whitney’s older, college-aged sister. Lonely, Whitney first becomes involved with wild Lucas and later Bryn who treats her like a queen. When Bryn asks her to follow him to Las Vegas she easily agrees to go as he treats her better than her own family does. But when Bryn begins to distance himself from her in Vegas whom will she turn to?

Sixteen-year old Ginger Cordell lives with her caring grandmother, abusive mother, and five siblings. Ginger has a hard life as her mother is constantly bringing home scary men as she makes her living as a prostitute. Her mother even encourages these men to pay her so they can rape Ginger, something that has happened repeatedly over the years. Ginger’s only solace, besides her capable grandmother, is in Alex, her friend at school. When Alex suggests they run away together to avoid being constantly raped by the men in their lives Ginger readily agrees.

Cody Bennett lives in Las Vegas with his brother, mother, and stepfather. He lives on the wild side, abusing drugs, supplying others with weed and sleeping with his girlfriend. His life radically changes when his stepfather is diagnosed with stomach cancer and dies leaving him, his brother, and his mother with a mounting pile of bills and no way to pay them. Cody must suddenly make some difficult decisions on how to best provide for his family.

Critical Evaluation

*Spoilers Ahead*

Tricks is a difficult novel to read as each of the main characters undergoes multiple counts of verbal, physical, and/or sexual abuse. However, it is a valuable novel to read as Hopkins goes beyond simply relating a story to challenging readers about their innermost assumptions and biases. For example, I had been interested in reading Tricks for years because I have always been curious as to how teenagers fall into prostitution. I had assumed that most were drug addicted individuals that needed money for their next fix. Part of the reason this novel is so disturbing is that it upset my assumptions. Hopkins confronts assumptions such as mine by pointing out that any teenager is vulnerable to prostitution. Eden used her body to try to escape the abusive camp her parents sent her to in order to reform her. Seth became a kept man because he had no other place to go while Whitney was fooled by a man whom she thought loved her. Ginger, while never actually sleeping with anyone, strips because she, like Seth, has no other way to make a living while Cody needs a way to pay the bills. It is easy to think that prostitution is something that only happens to a certain type of individual but Hopkins’ Tricks clearly points out that this assumption is erroneous.

Hopkins’ also challenges readers’ definitions of prostitution. It, in fact, takes a number of forms and is more than someone simply paying for sex in a cheap hotel room. For example, Eden agrees to sleep with her jailer to gain her freedom, Seth exchanges sex for security, Whitney becomes a prostitute for drugs, Ginger’s girlfriend and  Cody both do so for money. Hopkins’ also does not give readers a happy ending which is appropriate as happy endings within the world of prostitution are all too few. While Eden finds a safe haven through a church it is unclear how she will return home without being sent back to the despicable Tears of Zion camp. Seth leaves his abusive lover only to fall in with a different lover and remain a kept man. Whitney’s drug overdose saves her from a life of prostitution but it is unclear whether or not she will be able to mend her relationship with her parents. Ginger goes home to her grandmother knowing that she will be safe from her mother as her mother has developed an advanced case of HIV. However, it is unclear how Ginger will heal from her horrific past. Cody’s ending is the most open-ended as he hovers between life and death not sure whether he should return as there is still no clear way to pay the bills he needs to without continuing in prostitution.

Overall, Tricks is an important novel as it educates readers on how and why prostitution occurs and what they can do to help prevent it.

Reader’s Annotation

Five teens learn about how warped “love” can truly be.

About the Author

Author of novels for both adults and young adults, Ellen Hopkins is best known for her tomes of poetry. When she isn’t writing she enjoys gardening and cooking. She spends roughly 100 days on the road visiting schools and libraries.

To learn more about Ellen Hopkins and her books please visit her website here & here.

Genre

Poetry, Realistic fiction, Verse novel

Readalikes

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

·         Also about teenagers who suffer from sexual abuse

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

·         Also about a teenager who has been sexually abused

What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

·         A novel told in verse, outcast Robin is upset that his once popular girlfriend has chosen him over popularity. 

Tags

15 year old, 16 year old, Boyfriends, Brothers, Countryside, Gay, Homosexuality, Indiana, Innocence, Las Vegas, NV, Pastors, Santa Cruz, Sisters, CA Single father, Utah,

Awards Won/Lists On

2009—#1 on the New York Times Bestseller List

2009—Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction

2009—VOYA’s Poetry Picks

2010—ALA Rainbow List for Fiction

Professional Reviews

 Booklist
Kirkus Reviews

·         Interestingly, Kirkus writes that this book is appropriate for 19-20 year olds

 Publishers' Weekly

Booktalk Ideas

What is prostitution?

·         Is it giving away your body in order to gain freedom? (Eden)

·         Is it exchanging sex for a comfortable, luxurious lifestyle? (Seth)

·         Is it having sex in exchange for drugs? (Whitney)

·         Is it stripping for money to get by? (Ginger)

·         Is it giving away your body in order to pay the bills for your family? (Cody)

Circumstances (aka Not All Prostitutes are Addicted to Drugs)

·         Sure, lots of people assume that prostitutes are those who do it to have money for drugs but have you ever considered that they might be…

·         Teens who have escaped from a horribly abuse home life who have nowhere else to go and no other way to survive (Eden & Ginger)

·         Teens who have been kicked out of their homes because of their sexual orientation (Seth)

·         Teens who have been taken advantage of in a vulnerable moment, become convinced that a guy loves them only to have the guy turn on them and start selling them for money (Whitney)

·         Teens who have no other way to make enough money to pay their family’s bills (Cody)

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness

This is an excellent book to use to help prostitutes recover from the traumas they have suffered. It can also be used to bring awareness to teen prostitution—how it is caused and how to prevent it.

Reading Level/Interest Level

Reading Level: 4^th grade

Interest Level: 9^th-12^th grade

These levels are according to AR Bookfinder

Challenge Issues

No doubt I have left some things out but this book includes the following potentially controversial elements:

·         Blow jobs

·         Child rape

·         Coercion

·         Crack usage

·         Drug addicted parent

·         Masturbation

·         Parent who sells their child for money

·         Physically abuse parent

·         Premarital sex (consensual)

·         Pot smoking

·         Sex

·         Sexually abusive authority figure

·         Sexually abusive parent

·         Strippers

·         Talk of sexual practices

·         Teen rape

·         Three-somes

·         Underage cigarette smoking

Librarians can point out that while this is certainly a difficult book to read it brings awareness to how and why teenage prostitution occurs. Teens who read this book are better equipped to look for the signs of it in their friends’ lives and help them out of their bad situations.

Why Was This Included?

I included this book for several reasons. Firstly, it was required reading for the course, and secondly, because while I have never wanted to read Hopkins’ books because of their gravity, I have been interested in Tricks for some time. For years now, I’ve wanted to better understand how teenagers end up in prostitution and what the best ways to help them out of it are.