Book Response
English 12 – Kalin
Burned written by Ellen Hopkins Is a great novel, and worth the time to read. Burned is about a teen girl who was born and raised a Mormon; Pattyn Von Stratten she is like most teenagers growing up. Her family is extremely religious but in the same prospective her father is a drunk and very abusive. Pattyn is tired of living the fairytale of a Mormon lifestyle and ready to be energized with her own free spirit and way of life. Pattyn slowly starts to rebel against her family, school, church. While her father spends most of his time drunk; its left up to her mother to take care of the house hold and make sure everything is all in perfect running order to not upset Pattyn’s father. Pattyn begins rebelling even more so than she thought it would go. She gets suspended from school and gets sent to live with her aunt who she doesn’t even know. This is the beginning of it all the worst mistake her father could have made and where Pattyn makes decisions that are about to change her life completely. Pattyn soon falls in love with a boy names Ethan who she is bound to be attached to. Pattyn doesn’t see it but she is headed down the complete wrong path and when all she wanted is attention she’s going to get much more attention that she has intended to get.
Ellen Hopkins is showing the themes of abuse and dysfunctional relationship, Pattyn’s father is an abusive drunk. I also think Hopkins is showing the theme of growing up and finding your destiny and who you are, when Pattyn is sent to live with her aunt in Nevada and basically create a whole new agenda for herself. Along with dysfunctional relationship, she’s displaying what love is like, too, when the character falls in love. I think she’s trying to prove that life doesn’t always go as planned and you have to work yourself around the problems that you find in life, and bad decision could change your life forever. I believe the main purpose of the novel is to reach out to