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ABOUT THE BOOK<\/h3>\nABOUT THE BOOK<\/h3>\nPattyn Von Stratten\u2019s father is dead, and Pattyn is on the run. After far too many years of abuse at the hands of her father, and after the tragic loss of her beloved Ethan and their unborn child, Pattyn is desperate for peace. But is it even possible to rebuild a life when everything you\u2019ve known has burned to ash and lies seem far safer than the truth?<\/p>\n
Bestselling author Ellen Hopkins continues the riveting story of Pattyn Von Stratten she began in Burned to explore what it takes to rise from the ashes, put ghosts to rest, and step into a future.<\/p>\n
Forgive me. I don\u2019t know what to do.
\nWhere to go. How to feel. I\u2019m perched
\non the precipice, waiting for the cliff
\nto crumble. No way to change what<\/p>\n
happened. What\u2019s done is done and I . . .
\nI can\u2019t think about it. If I do, I\u2019ll throw up
\nright here. Bile boils in my gut, erupts
\nin my esophagus. I gulp it down, close<\/p>\n
my eyes. But I can still see him, lying there.
\nCan still hear the gurgle in his throat.
\nStill smell the rich, rusty perfume of blood
\npooling around him. I so wanted him dead.<\/p>\n
My father. Stephen Paul Von Stratten.
\nThe bastard who beat my mother. Beat
\nmy sister. Beat me. The son of a bitch
\nwho was responsible for the accident<\/p>\n
that claimed my Ethan\u2014catapulted him
\nwherever you go when you die. Our unborn
\nbaby rode into that wilderness with him.
\nDear, cruel God. Why couldn\u2019t I go, too?
\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
I chose a seat near the back, away
\nfrom the driver. Mistake. Too close
\nto the bathroom. It stinks of urine<\/p>\n
and worse. Every now and again
\nsomeone goes in there and then it
\nsmells like marijuana, though smoking<\/p>\n
is prohibited on all Greyhounds.
\nAt least that\u2019s what the signs say.
\nNot like the driver cares. Easier not<\/p>\n
to interfere with derelicts, dopers,
\nfailed gamblers, and crazies. Oddly,
\nI feel safe enough among them.<\/p>\n
Like freeway drivers in separate cars,
\nall going the same direction at the same
\ntime, each passenger here has a unique<\/p>\n
destination. A personal story. I try
\nnot to listen. Try to tune the voices
\nout. Don\u2019t need other people\u2019s drama.
\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
Somewhere behind me, a couple
\nhas argued for an hour. Seems
\nhe was up two hundred dollars
\nat Circus Circus. But she dropped
\nthat, plus three hundred more,
\nwhich explains why they\u2019re :
\nriding a piss-smelling bus home
\nstead of getting a little cooch
\nin a cozy motel room before
\ncatching the morning Amtrak.<\/p>\n
Kitty-corner and a couple rows
\nup, two blue-silver haired women
\ntalk about their husbands, kids, and
\ngrandkids. One of them got lucky
\non dollar slots. Now she can pay
\nher electric bill and have enough
\nleft over to put some back into
\nour savings. Shouldn\u2019t have
\ntook it out for this trip, but I
\njust had one of those feelings . . .
\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
REVIEWS FROM BOOKLIST AND VOYA:<\/p>\n
“Hopkins’ riveting story line is full of the perpetual premonition of danger, and the simple free-verse format belies the complexity of both plot and craft…a compelling and thought-provoking read.” \u2014Booklist<\/p>\n
“The book is rife with real issues and demanding attention, leaving the reader to realize that when the smoke clears, redemption is always possible. In the end, voices are heard that refuse to be silenced and the empowerment that comes with the character\u2019s decisions transcend the page and leave much to be discussed and contemplated among readers.” \u2014 (starred review) \u2014VOYA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ABOUT THE BOOK Pattyn Von Stratten\u2019s father is dead, and Pattyn is on the run. After far too many years of abuse at the hands of her father, and after the tragic loss of her beloved Ethan and their unborn child, Pattyn is desperate for peace. But is it even possible to rebuild a life when everything you\u2019ve known has burned to ash and lies seem far safer than the truth? Bestselling author Ellen Hopkins continues the riveting story of Pattyn Von Stratten she began in Burned to explore what it takes to rise from the ashes, put ghosts to rest, and step into a future. BOOK EXCERPT REVIEW FOR SMOKE REVIEWS FROM BOOKLIST AND VOYA: “Hopkins’ riveting story line is full of the perpetual premonition of danger, and the simple free-verse format belies the complexity of both plot and craft…a compelling and thought-provoking read.” \u2014Booklist “The book is rife with real issues and demanding attention, leaving the reader to realize that when the smoke clears, redemption is always possible. In the end, voices are heard that refuse to be silenced and the empowerment that comes with the character\u2019s decisions transcend the page and leave much to be discussed and contemplated among readers.” \u2014 (starred review) \u2014VOYA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-97","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":382,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97\/revisions\/382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}