Impulse

Impulse

by Ellen Hopkins
Impulse

Impulse

by Ellen Hopkins

Paperback(Reprint)

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Overview

From the bestselling author of Crank, the story of three kids whose lives collide at a mental hospital after each attempts suicide.

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act—suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun—and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life—but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781416903574
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date: 05/20/2008
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 688
Sales rank: 35,506
Product dimensions: 4.90(w) x 7.00(h) x 1.80(d)
Lexile: HL680L (what's this?)
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


Without Warning

Sometimes

you're traveling

a highway, the only road

you've ever known,

and wham! A semi

comes from nowhere

and rolls right over you.

Sometimes

you don't wake up.

But if you happen

to, you know things

will never be

the same.

Sometimes

that's not

so bad.

Sometimes

lives intersect,

no rhyme, no reason,

except, perhaps,

for a passing semi.

Triad

Three

separate highways

intersect at a place

no reasonable person

would ever want to go.

Three

lives that would have

been cut short, if not

for hasty interventions

by loved ones. Or Fate.

Three

people, with nothing

at all in common

except age, proximity,

and a wish to die.

Three

tapestries, tattered

at the edges and come

unwoven to reveal

a single mutual thread.

The Thread

Wish

you could turn off

the questions, turn

off the voices,

turn off all sound.

Yearn

to close out

the ugliness, close

out the filthiness,

close out all light.

Long

to cast away

yesterday, cast

away memory,

cast away all jeopardy.

Pray

you could somehow stop

the uncertainty, somehow

stop the loathing,

somehow stop the pain.

Conner

Arrival

The glass doors swing open,

in perfect sync, precisely

timed so you don't have

to think. Just stroll right in.

I doubt it's quite as easy

to turn around and walk

back outside, retreat to

unstable ground. Home turf.

An orderly escorts me down

spit-shined corridors, past

tinted Plexiglas and closed,

unmarked doors. Mysteries.

One foot in front of the other,

counting tiles on the floor so

I don't have to focus the blur

of painted smiles, fake faces.

A mannequin in a tight blue

suit, with a too-short skirt

(and legs that can wear it),

in a Betty Boop voice halts us.

I'm Dr. Boston. Welcome to

Aspen Springs. I'll give you

the tour. Paul, please take his

things to the Redwood Room.

Aspen Springs. Redwood Room.

As if this place were a five-star

resort, instead of a lockdown

where crazies pace. Waiting.

At Least

It doesn't have a hospital

stink. Oh yes, it's all very

clean, from cafeteria chairs

to the bathroom sink. Spotless.

But the clean comes minus

the gag-me smell, steeping

every inch of that antiseptic

hell where they excised

the damnable bullet. I

wonder what Dad said when

he heard I tried to put myself

six feet under -- and failed.

I should have put the gun

to my head, worried less

about brain damage, more

about getting dead. Finis.

Instead, I decided a shot

through the heart would

make it stop beating, rip

it apart to bleed me out.

I couldn't even do that

right. The bullet hit bone,

left my heart in one piece.

In hindsight, luck wasn't

with me that day. Mom

found me too soon, or my

pitiful life might have ebbed

to the ground in arterial flow.

I thought she might die too,

at the sight of so much blood

and the thought of it staining

her white Armani blouse.

Conner, what have you done?

she said. Tell me this was just

an accident. She never heard

my reply, never shed a tear.

I Don't Remember

Much after that, except

for speed. Ghostly red lights,

spinning faster and faster,

as I began to recede from

consciousness. Floating

through the ER doors,

frenzied motion. A needle's

sting. But I do remember,

just before the black hole

swallowed me, seeing Mom's

face. Her furious eyes

followed me down into sleep.

It's a curious place, the

Land of Blood Loss and

Anesthesia, floating through it

like swimming in sand. Taxing.

After a while, you think you

should reach for the shimmering

surface. You can't hold your

breath, and even if you could,

it's dark and deep and bitter

cold, where nightmares and truth

collide, and you wonder if death

could unfold fear so real. Palpable.

So you grope your way up into

the light, to find you can't

move, with your arms strapped

tight and overflowing tubes.

And everything hits you like

a train at full speed. Voices.

Strange faces. A witches' stewpot

of smells. Pain. Most of all,

pain.

Tony

Just Saw

A new guy check in. Tall,

built, with a way fine face,

and acting too tough to tumble.

He's a nutshell asking to crack.

Wonder if he's ever let a guy

touch that pumped-up bod.

They gave him the Redwood

Room. It's right across

from mine -- the Pacific

Room. Pretty peaceful in

here most of the time, long

as my meds are on time.

Ha. Get it? Most of the time

,

if my meds are on time. If you

don't get it, you've never

been in a place like this,

never hung tough from one

med call till the next.

Wasted. That's the only way

to get by in this "treatment

center." Nice name for a loony

bin. Everyone in here is crazy

one way or another. Everyone.

Even the so-called doctors.

Most of 'em are druggies.

Fucking loser meth freaks.

I mean, if you're gonna

purposely lose your mind,

you want to get it back some

day. Don't you? Okay, maybe not.

I Lost My Mind

A long time ago, but it

wasn't exactly my idea.

Shit happens, as they say,

and my shit literally hit

the fan. But enough sappy

crap. We were talking drugs.

I won't tell you I never tried

crystal, but it really wasn't

my thing. I saw enough

people, all wound up, drop

over the edge, that I guess

I decided not to take that leap.

I always preferred creeping

into a giant, deep hole where

no bad feelings could follow.

At least till I had to come up

for air. I diddled with pot first, but

that tasty green weed couldn't drag

me low enough. Which mostly

left downers, "borrowed" from

medicine cabinets and kitchen

cabinets and nightstands.

Wherever I could find them.

And once in a while -- not often,

because it was pricey and tough

to score -- once in a while, I

tumbled way low, took a ride

on the H train. Oh yeah,

that's what I'm talking about.

A hot shot clear to hell.

Copyright © 2007 by Ellen Hopkins

Reading Group Guide

A Reading Group Guide to Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

ABOUT THE BOOK



Conner, Vanessa, and Tony have all three landed in Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital. Conner has the seemingly perfect life: he is handsome and rich, and he is a star athlete and excels in academics. Despite having everything most teens would die for, Conner is at constant odds with his mother. She is cold, concerned with image and perfection, and forever critical. Conner is unable to cope with her criticism and his feelings of inadequacy. Vanessa is a copper-haired beauty but, like her mother, is manic depressive. Her father, a soldier, is both physically and emotionally absent, leaving Vanessa’s grandmother to raise her. Dumped by a boyfriend who can no longer deal with her mood swings, and haunted by feelings of guilt for not calling 911 when her mother overdosed on Xanax, Vanessa finds relief in cutting. Tony is angry with his father for leaving him to grow up in poverty with his mother, a prostitute who exposes him to men who sexually abuse him. Tony finds a friend in an older man, Phillip, who dies shortly after they meet. When Tony meets Vanessa, he begins questioning his gay identity. Desperate to end the emotional pain, all three attempt suicide: Conner grabs a gun, Vanessa slashes her wrist, and Tony downs a bottle of pills. Having survived their suicide attempts, all three must confront their own demons if they are to emerge mentally stable. Forging new friendships and participating in therapy, sometimes with family members, provides a support structure, but will all three have the strength to step beyond their pasts? A wilderness challenge tests their ability to work as a team and to confront life experiences.



PREREADING ACTIVITY



Talk about a time in which you acted on impulse. Did you make a good decision? What regrets, if any, do you have?



Describe a time in which you thought about acting on impulse, but you held back. What made you pause? Did you make the right decision by waiting? Explain.



Why are impulses difficult to control?



DISCUSSION QUESTIONS



Conner, Vanessa, and Tony have different life experiences. What brings each to Aspen Springs? How are the three alike? How are they different?



Conner, Vanessa, and Tony have unique relationships with their parents. Describe the relationship each has with his/her mother and his/her father.



Both Conner and Tony are angry. Conner is angry with his mother, and Tony is angry with his father. What accounts for their rage? How does each young man deal with his anger differently?



Vanessa shows more depression than rage and finds release through cutting on herself. How does cutting help Vanessa feel better?



Discuss Conner’s relationship with Emily. Why is Conner so devastated over the loss of this relationship? What might the loss have to do with Conner’s relationship with his own mother?



Why does Conner tell Vanessa he is poison?



Is Dr. Boston attracted to Conner or is the attraction in Conner’s imagination? Support your response with examples.


Describe Tony’s relationship with Phillip. Why is Phillip so special to Tony? Might Tony’s relationship with Phillip be different if Tony had been close to his father growing up? Explain.

Vanessa learns that she loves both Conner and Tony, but her love is different for each. Explain.



What stands in the way of Conner’s ability to heal? Why is his path to recovery more difficult than Tony’s or Vanessa’s?



All three characters search for the meaning of love. What experiences has each character had that led to confusion about love? What does each learn about love?



Conner, Tony, and Vanessa participate in a wilderness challenge. What purpose is this adventure supposed to serve in their healing process?



Impulse ends with both hope and tragedy. Explain. How is this ending fitting, given what you learn and come to understand about the three central characters?



Comparing Tony and Vanessa, which character is more likely to heal and lead a productive and healthy life? Why?



A girl’s most important relationship as she grows up is often said to be with her father, whereas a boy’s is often said to be with his mother. Keeping this idea in mind, compare and contrast Vanessa’s relationship with her father with that of Conner and his mother. What impact do these relationships have on the way Vanessa and Conner view their futures?



Why is Impulse a just title for this book?



ACTIVITIES



Choose an aspect of teen suicide to research, and prepare a class presentation. Topics to consider might include: the causes and warning signs of teen suicide, who is more susceptible to suicide and why, avenues available for teens who are living with emotional pain, and how teens can offer support and assistance to friends who are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.



Investigate local help for troubled teens and prepare a repository of information for your school/community. What psychiatric help is available in your community? What resources are available in schools? Decide on a format for the repository and develop/implement a plan for distributing the information to teens, parents, and guardians. (You might choose traditional brochure literature and/or you might choose to construct web-based resource sites.)



Organize a series of speakers to come to your school/community to discuss with teens, parents, teachers, and others the issues and pressures that today’s teens face and ways of helping young people deal with difficult life situations.



Raise community awareness for troubled teens by identifying an organization that helps teens in crisis and organize a fund-raising initiative for that organization.



Research a successful hotline or help center for teens, then explore the possibility of developing a hotline for troubled teens in your community should one not exist. What resources would be needed for the hotline to become operational? What policies and procedures need to be developed and enforced? What funding would be required to make a help center/hotline functional?



Research successful summer programs for troubled teens. Prepare a handout, brochure, or website on summer programs, including summer wilderness programs, and share with others.



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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