Who Is Ellen Hopkins's 'Burned'?

The loss of her husband causes Amanda to develop a dependence on her children. She wants Tom and Laura to become successful. Amanda complains that Tom does not earn enough money at the shoe factory. She wants him to attend night school so he can attain a better career.

Wendy’s relationships throughout the book The Usual Rules serve as a foundation for her independence without these figures in her life, Wendy could have easily been taken under by the wrath of depression following her mother’s passing, but instead the people in her life build her into something stronger than she ever was; an independent young adult with high hopes and the makings for a prosperous

However, with her alcoholic dad who rarely kept a job and her mother who suffered mood swings, they had to find food from her school garbage or eat expired food they had previously when they had the slightest bit of money. In addition, when bills and mortgage piled up, they would pack their bags and look for a new home to live in, if they could even call it a stable home, since they would be on the move so often. Jeanette needed a dad who wouldn’t disappear for days at a time, and a mom that was emotionally stable, but because she didn’t have that, she grew up in an environment where she would get teased or harassed for it. Jeanette suffered so much, that even at one point, she tried convincing her mother to leave her father because of the trouble he had caused the family already. A child should be able to depend on their parents for food and to be there for them when they need it, and when that part of a child’s security is taken away, it leaves them lost and on their own, free and confused about what to do next.

“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning my brother’s was worth a pocket watch.” This book is Between Shades of Grey, by Ruta Sepetys. The genre of this book is historical fiction. The book is about a 13-year-old girl, Lina, and her family. They are a Jewish family at the time of the Nazi’s. This was not a very good time in Lina, her brother, or her mom’s life. All of a sudden Lina and her family find themselves on a railroad cattle car and they don’t know where they are going or where their dad is. On the cattle car, Lina meets a cute boy her age named Andrius who is trying to find his dad, also. Lina and Andrius go and try to find their dads. Lina finder hers, but Andrius comes up empty-handed. When they get off the cattle car, which is 1 year later, Lina is split up from her dad, so she has to work to try to find him again but then she finds out he is dead. Lina gets out of the camp they are in and her and Andrius get married. In the book Between Shades Of Grey, by Ruta Sepetys Lina is courageous, determined, and loving.

Jeanette Walls and her out of the ordinary family live their lives surrounded in pure craziness and poverty. Jeanette has been raised to be as independent as her age allows her. At age three she could make herself a hot dog and by the age of eighteen she had started a new life in New York away from the craziness that followed her parents throughout the kids nomadic childhood. Jeanette and her siblings Lori, Brian and Maureen live their childhoods with almost nothing. They were always wondering where their next meal would come from and where there parents had mysteriously disappeared to. Rex Walls, the father and husband was a severe alcoholic who spent most of his money on gambling or a beer from a local bar. Rose Mary Walls, the mother and wife was not better, never being to hold onto a job for long enough to get paid and support her family caused many problems for Rose Mary, Rex and most importantly… the kids. The kids all had the dream of escaping the prison their parents called home and heading to New York or California where they could feel endless happiness. The kids grow up with almost no parents, which forces them to become independent from the day they were born. In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Jeanette's parents teach her to only rely on herself and never get attached to something you can lose, forcing Jeanette to become strong and independent throughout her childhood.

“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings” is a famous quote said by Heinrich Heine, which relates to the concept of book burning, seen in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury uses his unique literary style to write the novel Fahrenheit 451; where he brings his readers to a future American Society which consists of censorship, book burning, and completely oblivious families. The novel’s protagonist, Guy Montag, is one of the many firemen who takes pride in starting fires rather than putting them out, until he encounters a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan. As the novel progresses, the reader is able to notice what Clarisse’s values are in the novel, how her innocence and

Yet another amazing read Burned, by the New York Time’s bestseller author Ellen Hopkins was a true to life story that many young girls can relate to. In one way or another everyone has experience at least one to the events that the main protagonist, Pattyn von Stratten has experienced. Being seventeen, the young girl was forced to overcome some endeavors that many young people her age will have to overcome themselves. Considering, her mother feels that her only duty in the house is to bear as many children as possible, the responsibility of raising these children for the most part has been left up to young Pattyn. The oldest of six sisters, Pattyn has had to witness her father regularly beat his wife (her mother) while he is in his Johnnie Walker induced drunken stupor. A Mormon family, the thought of dating and any sexual actions with boys is completely forbided.

Ethan dreams of having a new wife who has personality and is fun. Zeena his first wife, was asked by him to stay with him since he needed help around the farm, and she agreed. Later in their life together Zeena becomes very sick and is in urgent need of a doctor. Ethan does what he can to make her

When she sees Dwayne, she naively thinks that "he could do for her what the Fairy Godmother could do for Cinderella, if he wanted to" (137).  She realizes that he holds money and power, and this makes him a "magical person" in her eyes (137).  As she thinks about how he could help her solve her problems, Patty notices that Dwayne is acting strangely and seems depressed.  This causes her to feel sorry for him, and turns her thoughts to how she can help Dwayne.  Vonnegut writes, "Patty Keene was persuaded that she could make him happy with her young body, with her bravery and cheerfulness" (143).  However, Patty's sympathy is clouded with materialistic thoughts of "all of the new and used cars Dwayne owned" (143).  She is willing to prostitute herself, since Dwayne could "give her a fine house and new automobiles and nice clothes and a life of leisure, and he could pay all the medical bills . . . as easily as she had given him his hamburger and his French fries and his Coke" (137).

She dissects situations and assesses where things occurred and how it could have been preventable. In the book Julie Betty explains and tries to show class and the differences in a high school. High school being the setting where you would think classes isn’t important that its what makes this book powerful. In the setting giving you would think people who are in the lower class of America would try to multiply themselves with

After the night when Ethan Post assaulted her, Patty feels that it was “the most wretched hour of her life” (6). She didn’t feel clean, safe, or most of all that Ethan “had thought it was O.K. to rape her” (6). All of this evidence gives you an idea of what drove her

The main character in this amazing book is Patty. She is a young, Jewish girl who is only twelve years old. Patty Bergen is a really smart and mature girl for her age, but she does not believe this. Sweet Patty says throughout the story that she is not worthy of love because her own parents don't love her. Her mother, Pearl Bergen, constantly is comparing Patty to her younger sister Sharon, and her dad, Harry, beats Patty up unnecessarily. The only person Patty actually likes is Ruth, and African American housekeeper that works for the Bergen’s. Ruth is the only person that treats Patty right, she listens to Patty every time she learns a new “big” word and encourages her. Patty longs to find the love and acceptance her parents don't give her in other people, that is why she illegally houses a prisoner of war in her hideout.

She lost another love by the name of Oluf, could not find much work, and lost hard-earned money through a bad business investment. After all this peril she took Russell and Doris and moved to Baltimore. Another move equaled more stress, less money, and more struggling to get by. With what seemed to be the world against her, she made it. She remarried, bought a house, and became the success she demanded of herself. Every step of the way Russell was exposed to all the ups and downs. His mother’s life during those times shaped and influenced his own.

Ellen Hopkins started her writing career in 1990 and mainly wrote about the struggles a teenager has. From an abusive home to drug abuse. In these book she focuses on the teen’s feeling and describes them almost perfectly. From laying out what they’re feeling in that specific moment to how their mood or frame of mind change throughout her books. The character Pattyn Von Stratten has two very specific characteristics that remind me of myself.

Her mom had just died and this was her way of finally being free. She could finally see the new world coming to her and would take any opportunity to get to it. You learn how her childhood wasn’t the best and how it affected her. Her mother not loving or caring for