Burned

I do know things really began to spin out of control after my first sex dream.

It all started with a dream. Nothing exceptional, just a typical fantasy about a boy, the kind of dream that most teen girls experience. But Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls. Raised in a religious -- yet abusive -- family, a simple dream may not be exactly a sin, but it could be the first step toward hell and eternal damnation.

This dream is a first step for Pattyn. But is it to hell or to a better life? For the first time Pattyn starts asking questions. Questions seemingly without answers -- about God, a woman's role, sex, love -- mostly love. What is it? Where is it? Will she ever experience it? Is she deserving of it?

It's with a real boy that Pattyn gets into real trouble. After Pattyn's father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control until Pattyn ends up suspended from school and sent to live with an aunt she doesn't know.

Pattyn is supposed to find salvation and redemption during her exile to the wilds of rural Nevada. Yet what she finds instead is love and acceptance. And for the first time she feels worthy of both -- until she realizes her old demons will not let her go. Pattyn begins down a path that will lead her to a hell -- a hell that may not be the one she learned about in sacrament meetings, but it is hell all the same.

In this riveting and masterful novel told in verse, Ellen Hopkins takes readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride. From the highs of true love to the lows of abuse, Pattyn's story will have readers engrossed until the very last word.

Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 04/01/2006
Pages: 544
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.97lbs
Size: 7.59h x 5.00w x 1.73d
ISBN: 9781416903543
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.2
Point Value: 6
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 106143 / Burned


Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended
Award: Colorado Blue Spruce Award - Nominee
Award: Iowa High School Book Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Review - Children 04/01/2006 pg. 348
Voice of Youth Advocates 06/01/2006 pg. 144 - Recommended - Readable
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 06/01/2006 pg. 455
Booklist 06/01/2006 pg. 62
School Library Journal 07/01/2006 pg. 105
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2006 pg. 360 - Marginal, Seriously Flawed

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.