The You I’ve Never Known by Ellen Hopkins - PUBLIC

Hopkins, Ellen The You I’ve Never Known, 590 pgs. Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division), 2017. $18.99 Language – R (236 swear, 35 “f”), Mature Content – R (homosexual and heterosexual activities); Violence – PG; 

Ariel moves towns as her father moves through girlfriends. As annoying as that is, she’s happy that he seems content with his current girlfriend, Zelda, because that means she actually has time to go to school and make friends. As Ariel starts getting to know others, she must also get to know herself. Who is Ariel? Who does Ariel want to be?

Hopkins has an interesting writing style by telling stories through poems. I expected the poem style of Ariel’s point of view to slow down the reading or make the story harder to understand, but I was surprised by my enhanced understanding of Ariel’s feelings. I ended up liking the poem structure, but that’s the only thing I liked. Ariel’s story is hard to read because of the vulgar language and endless crude conversations and actions on nearly every page. I was very uncomfortable as I read this book. 

PUBLIC ONLY. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen