It's a Tricky Topic...

When my friend handed me the book, Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins to read, she specifically told me, "It's really good, but I have to warn you, it's graphic." I admit, I knew it would be graphic when I began reading the book, but I was nowhere near prepared for the stories the book was about to unfold.

Tricks is uniquely written in poetry form, giving it an artistic flare that is still easy enough to understand. It jumps around, telling the stories of five teenagers, living completely separate lives. At first, the stories of each teen could not be more different, and after being over half-way through the book, I was still not finding a connection between each tale. There were only two similarities that stuck out to me as I continued reading: sex and Las Vegas. One character was a preacher's daughter, living under strict rules, another was a farmer's son struggling with his sexuality. Yet another one was a prostitute's daughter, trying to raise her siblings. They all came from polar opposite walks of life, but they shared one thing: teenage prostitution.

The beginning of the book didn't start out with all of the characters in the underhanded business of prostitution. In fact, none of them were involved, other than the one girl whose mother was a "woman of the night." None of them got into the dealing by choice. For most all of them, it was a last resort to help their failing lives. One young man turned to prostitution after his stepfather died of cancer and his brother was locked up in jail. Another young girl was tricked by a man she met and began dating. This mountebank got her addicted to drugs and used her in his sex slave business against her will.

These circumstances seem dire, but in reality the teenagers began with a life that is common to most. I would never think something like this could happen in my town and to people I know, but it can, and it does. At the end of the book, the author noted that, "the average age of a female prostitute in the United States is twelve years old." This is a shocking statistic. I have to say that this book was definitely an eye-opener, shining some light on the dark world of prostitution.