Identical

Identical

by Ellen Hopkins
Identical

Identical

by Ellen Hopkins

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Overview

Beneath their perfect family façade, twin sisters struggle alone with impossible circumstances and their own demons until they finally learn to fight for each other in this poignant tour de force from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.

Sixteen-year-old Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family…on the surface. Underneath run very deep and damaging secrets. What really happened in the car accident that Daddy caused? And why is Mom never home, always running far away to pursue some new dream?

The girls themselves have become hopelessly divided over the years. Sick of losing Daddy’s game of favorites, Raeanne turns to painkillers, alcohol, and sex to dull her pain her anger. Kaeleigh tries to be her father’s perfect little flower, but being the misplaced focus of his sexual attention has her seeking control anywhere she can—even if it means cutting herself and unhealthy binge and purge eating.

Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept—from each other or anyone else. Before long, it's obvious that neither sister can handle their problems alone, and one must step up to save the other, but the question is…who?

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781416984658
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date: 08/26/2008
Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format: eBook
Pages: 576
Sales rank: 49,268
Lexile: HL590L (what's this?)
File size: 11 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range: 14 - 17 Years

About the Author

About The Author
Ellen Hopkins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous young adult novels, as well as the adult novels such as Triangles, Collateral, and Love Lies Beneath. She lives with her family in Carson City, Nevada, where she has founded Ventana Sierra, a nonprofit youth housing and resource initiative. Follow her on Twitter at @EllenHopkinsLit.

Read an Excerpt

Raeanne

Mirror, Mirror

When I look into a
mirror, it is her face I see.
Her right is my left, double
moles, dimple and all.
My right is her left,
unblemished.

We are exact opposites,
Kaeleigh and me.
Mirror-image identical
twins. One egg, one sperm,
one zygote, divided,
sharing one complete
set of genetic markers.

On the outside
we are the same. But not
inside. I think
she is the egg, so
much like our mother
it makes me want to scream.

Cold.
Controlled.

That makes me the sperm,
I guess. I take completely
after our father.
All Daddy, that's me.

Codependent.
Cowardly.

Good, bad. Left, right.
Kaeleigh and Raeanne.
One egg, one sperm.
One being, split in two.

And how many souls?

Interesting Question

Don't you think?
I mean, if the Supreme
Being inserts a single soul
at the moment of conception,
does that essence divide
itself? Does each half then
strive to become whole
again, like a starfish
or an earthworm?

Or might the soul clone itself,
create a perfect imitation
of something yet to be
defined? In this way,
can a reflection be altered?

Or does the Maker,
in fact, choose
to place two
separate souls within
a single cell, to spark
the skirmish that ultimately
causes such an unlikely rift?

Do twins begin in the womb?

Or in a better place?

One Soul or Two

We live in a smug California
valley. Rolling ranch land, surrounded
by shrugs of oak-jeweled hills.
Green for two brilliant
months sometime around spring,
burnt-toast brown the rest of the year.

Just over an unremarkable mountain
stretches the endless Pacific.
Mornings here come wrapped
in droops of gray mist.
Most days it burns off by noon.
Other days it just hangs on
and on. Smothers like a wet blanket.

Three towns triangulate
the valley, three corners, each
with a unique flavor:
weathered Old West;
antiques and wine tasting;
just-off-the-freeway boring.

Smack in the center is the town
where we live, and it is the most
unique of all, with its windmills
and cobbled sidewalks, designed
to carry tourists to Denmark.
Denmark, California-style.

The houses line smooth black
streets, prim rows
of postcard-pretty dwellings,
coiffed and manicured from curb
to chimney. Like Kaeleigh
and me, they're perfect
on the outside. But behind
the Norman Rockwell facades,
each holds its secrets.

Like Kaeleigh's and mine,
some are dark. Untellable.
Practically unbelievable.

Reading Group Guide

A Reading Group Guide to Identical by Ellen Hopkins

ABOUT THE BOOK

Kaeleigh and Raeanne Gardella, identical twins, live in a posh California neighborhood. Their father is a well-known district court judge and their mother a politician. On the surface they are the perfect American family, but beneath the façade lies a damaged family. Raeanne is the aggressive twin, the one who is sexually promiscuous—giving sex in return for drugs; she craves sexual attention from anyone, including her father. Kaeleigh is the quiet one, the one most like her mother, and the victim of her father’s sexual advances. Haunted by this, Kaeleigh has difficulty letting any boy close and deals with her pain by cutting. Torn apart by a tragic event, the twins’ parents hardly speak. Their mother spends her time on the campaign trail; their father lives at home where he drinks, abuses Oxycontin, and controls his daughters’ every move—from the clothes they wear to the places they go. Both girls have an eating disorder, and as they spiral into more dangerous depths, the story takes a surprising twist. One twin will need to step up. But who?

PREREADING ACTIVITY

What would it feel like to harbor a secret that could hurt another person should it be revealed?

How might you support a friend who had a family secret that would send one of his/her family members to jail?

What responsibility do we have to friends who may be abused by other friends or family members?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

In what ways are Raeanne and Kaeleigh similar? How are they different?

Raeanne and Kaeleigh are drawn to different kinds of boys. How are the boys different, and why do the girls connect with them?

Who is Greta Sorenson, and what role does she play in Kaeleigh’s life?

Raeanne and Kaeleigh have different reactions to their mother’s absence. Explain.

Raeanne tells herself that having sex makes her powerful. Would you agree?

The twin’s father is a district judge. On the surface he appears to be a strong person; however, underneath he is weak. What accounts for his fear and insecurity?

Characterize the twin’s mother. How has she changed since the accident?

Raeanne and Kaeleigh do not seem close. In fact, communication between them is virtually nonexistent. Explain how this lack of dialogue makes sense at the end of the story. Is it more difficult for readers to keep the girls “separate” toward the end of the story? If so, why might that be?

Ian saves Raeanne and Kaeleigh from further sexual abuse by Ty. How might he have known where Ty lived and that the twins might be there?

Raeanne seems to thrive off sexual encounters, and Kaeleigh is afraid of sexual intimacy. Given what you know about their relationship with their father, what might account for their opposite reactions?

How does Raeanne meet her grandfather, and what does she learn from him? If there were a sequel to the story, what might Raeanne’s or Kaeleigh’s relationship with him be like?

Why does the girls’ grandmother call, and why is their father so angry with his own mother?

Both girls are confused by the meaning of love. Kaeleigh comments, “But how do I give what has always been taken”, and later she says, “love is always defined by ulterior motive”. How do these comments illustrate her confusion? What experiences will the girls need in order to understand healthy relationships?

Hopkins places clues to a family tragedy throughout the story. By story’s end, the reader knows about an accident that has driven the family apart and understands events in the father’s childhood that accounts for his sexual advances on his own daughter. Explain the family tragedy and the emotional and psychological damage that is passed down from generation to generation.

Hopkins moves the story forward with the use of flashback. Through flashback, readers learn about the father’s attraction to Kaeleigh and Raeanne’s disappointment as a child that her father didn’t choose her. Flashback is also used to inform the reader about another family tragedy. If Hopkins had not used flashback, how else might she have conveyed the horror of the girls’ childhood? Would another technique have been as effective? Explain.

What can readers learn about the cycle of abuse that runs through three generations, beginning with the grandmother’s alcoholism, the father’s childhood abuse, his treatment of his daughters, and their emotional state? Without treatment, what kind of relationships might each girl maintain later in life?

ACTIVITIES

Research the abuse of prescription drugs. What prescription drugs are most commonly abused and why? Identify popular prescription drug and alcohol combinations that are potentially lethal. Develop a podcast on the dangers of mixing drugs and alcohol.

Choose one of the twins and develop an argument that she has better coping skills than her sister.

Research the characteristics and causes of eating disorders, as well as their treatments, and present your findings using any appropriate media (PowerPoint, wiki, website, blog, etc).

Personal tragedy can strain family relationships. Research resources for dealing with a family tragedy and develop a brochure or website on resources available to families who experience a family crisis.

Guide prepared by Pam B. Cole, Professor of English Education & Literacy, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA.

This guide has been provided by Simon & Schuster for classroom, library, and reading group use. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these purposes.



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