Tricks by Ellen Hopkins free essay sample

This story is about five people who are from completely different parts of the country, who all live totally different lives. Three girls and two boys are the main characters in the book. Las Vegas is the place they all end up; some meet each other while others don’t. Throughout the book, you learn about these people and see the events that lead each of them to the thing they all had in common. Sex is the common ground, but the sex in this book is not what you think. All the sex in this book is in exchange for something. Prostitution is a part of each of these characters lives during the book in one way or the other.The characters are Eden, the preacher’s daughter that falls in love; Whitney, the second favorite out of two children; Seth, the Midwest farmer who realizes he’s gay; Ginger, one of six children and daughter of a prostitute; and Cody, the one who’s life turns upside down by a family member’s death. We will write a custom essay sample on Tricks by Ellen Hopkins or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Each of these characters are under 18 years old, but ended up sacrificing much more than their innocence and self worth. Eden is the daughter of a priest. Her parents have very strict rules for her and her younger sister. Eden doesn’t understand some of these rules and questions some of their teachings.She meets a boy, Andrew, who she falls for. As she comes to understand her feelings for him, she can’t see why it’s wrong. Her parents don’t want her to even date until she’s ready to marry, so she keeps this relationship a secret. After months of being together, she decides she loves him enough to give herself to him. They continue to sneak around until one day when she is finally caught. When she returned home, her parents were waiting and already had knew. Her mother hit her and told her she was not allowed to leave the house. She did while they were at church and showed Andrew the damage done to her face. He wanted to take her to the police but she refused. When she returned back home, they had beaten her to it. She walked through the door expecting another dose of her mother’s disciplinary action. Instead, her mother sat her down to talk over tea. Her mother did the talking. She had come to the conclusion that Eden’s disrespectful and sinful behavior can only be from one reason: she must be possessed by demons. Her mother sent her away to a Christian rehabilitation center in Nevada, where she isn’t allowed to leave until the priest who runs the center clears her and is convinced she is cured. He thinks months are necessary. One of the workers there takes a liking to her and starts to bring her treats. In exchange for the treats, he wants something in return. Thinking that he may be the only way to get out of there, she complies. He comes to her every night and she really has no choice. Eventually she comes up with a plan: she will pretend to be in love with him and maybe convince him to take her away from there. Her plan works, but it takes a few days to go into action. When it does, they stop at a truck stop and she runs from him. She meets a very nice man and gets him to drive her toward Vegas.He takes her as far as he can go and she finds a trucker to drive her the rest of the way. He requests some sort of payment, oral sex. When she gets to Vegas, she has no money and knows only one way to get some fast. After a little while there, she meets another prostitute that gives her money and tells her to call her family. She gets in touch with Andrew and his family and knows that her home is no longer home and that she will not go back. Her story concludes with Eden thinking about what her next move will be. Whitney always felt like the odd one out between her mom and sister.Her dad adores her, but he only comes home on weekends because of business. Her mom is always giving her a hard time during the week, so anytime she can be away from the house is a blessing. She meets a boy and falls for him quickly. She, just like Eden, gives herself to him. She tells him she loves him and things change after that. He begins to ignore her and when they do see each other, it’s just sex and then he’s gone again. She goes to the mall one day and sees this guy a few times checking her out. He gives her his card, just in case. A few days later, she learns that her boyfriend is having a party and didn’t tell her.She decides she’s going to go. When she arrives, it looks like the whole town is there. Whitney walks in with a friend and sees him with another girl. Learning the truth was humiliating. Trying to see if she has money for a cab, a card falls out. Bryn. He comes to her rescue. She spends time with him and learns what love can really be, or so she thinks. He’s a photographer and is asked to move to Las Vegas for work. Wanting to escape her family and everything surrounding what has recently happened to her, she asked to come with him. Arriving there, they reside in a hotel and Bryn work is very sporadic.A steady income from Bryn’s photography is what Whitney automatically thought would be the money source. When he wasn’t getting paid normally, she knew something was wrong. He asked her to try a drug, a very scary drug that people know to stay away from. Heroin. He also wanted her to take nude photos, which she really didn’t have a problem with, and make sex tapes. She did have problems with this, but with the drugs in her system and Bryn putting pressure on her, she was swayed. Soon, Bryn was bringing men to the room to have sex with Whitney. Though influenced by drugs and the thought that Bryn truly loved her, she did what he said.She soon found herself addicted to heroin and could now call herself a prostitute. She befriended a neighbor, Ginger, when they met briefly at a laundry mat. While looking for a â€Å"date† she began to think about what would be going if she was at home, her sixteenth birthday was coming up. She found a guy and brought him back to the room. Before going in, she remembered the rule to get the money first. Turns out the guy had no intention of paying for anything he wanted from her. He tried to rape and strangle her. Luckily, Ginger likes to keep an eye on what is going on with Whitney and saw the attack.She saved Whitney and stayed with her until Bryn returned home. After one day, Bryn insisted that she got back to work. And she did. Her addiction was also a nagging habit. Bryn was usually the one that controlled when she got it and how much. Whitney had saved some money on the side that Bryn didn’t know about and went out on her own to find what she needed. What she got was much stronger than what she knew. Black tar is what it was called. She filled a needle and felt the rush instantly. Too much; she overdosed and was rushed to the hospital. She awoke to her mother sitting by her side. Whitney had been gone for a few months and her mother was relieved to find out that she was at least alive. Her sister thought that what Whitney went through was going to ruin her reputation somehow, but her mother realized her behavior towards her daughter. Whitney had the happiest ending of all the characters. Seth’s mom had recently passed so it was just him and his father. They are a Midwestern family, and what almost all of them do is farm. Since his mom passed away, he’s been more confused than ever. He had one girlfriend but always found himself staring at her brother. His dad never questioned him. Seth accepted that he was gay and turned to the internet to find someone. Soon, he did, Loren. Loren lived a little while away, maybe an hour or so. He knew that Loren was something special. Seth was introduced into a whole new world. They went to gay bars, dinners and just spent time together. It wouldn’t last as long as Seth had hoped. Loren was going to move to New York and Seth felt empty and lost again. He continued to go to the town and to the places they went together. He met an older man, Carl, who he had seen before with a young man.He was alone this time and he appeared to be looking. Carl seemed interested in Seth and could tell that he was upset. Letting him rant about what was going on, Carl offered something special. They began to see each other. Seth was becoming Carl’s new boy toy, or â€Å"kept† as referred to in the book. One day while Seth was home, his dad opened a letter; a letter from Loren. While the letter wasn’t graphic, it said enough. His father was furious and kicked him out. He went to Carl and asked if he could stay a few days. That’s when he found out that Carl was moving to Vegas for a job. The conditions for Seth to come included him being Carl’s kept man, meaning his only man and following his rules; he was to keep up his appearance and exercise; sex was a given, but with no condoms; he wasn’t allowed to get a job; and he was to do whatever Carl wanted, when he wanted it. Considering that everything would be paid for and he didn’t have to do all that much in return, didn’t seem nearly as bad as it turned out to be. Seth started to regularly work out and met a very attractive man there. Seth asked him if he could help him get into shape like he was. The man agreed and worked with him every day.Carl expected Seth showered and preparing dinner when he got home. One night, Carl brought home a friend. A threesome was outcome and Seth wasn’t too comfortable with it. He had to do it, because without Carl, he had absolutely nothing and nowhere to go. He was unhappy but he tried to hide it. At the gym, he finally gave in to temptation and had sex with his new friend. That night Carl returned home early and didn’t look too happy. He tried to play dumb but Carl knew every detail of the afternoon’s events. He had hired that guy to see if, eventually, Seth would do anything. Since he had, Seth had to go. Carl didn’t care where and didn’t care that he had nothing. In his words â€Å"You threw everything away. † Seth left and found work in an escort service Have Ur Cake Escorts. His story ends with that. Ginger has not had an easy life. She is one of six children, only one of them shares the same father as her and the rest have different ones. Her mother is a stripper and prostitute, insists on being called Iris instead of mom and has a new boyfriend every other day. They never stayed in one place long enough for her to make proper friends at school.When Ginger’s story begins, they are living at her grandmother’s house and her mom has broken up with yet another boyfriend. Her grandmother is a saint and can’t understand how she does everything. They have been there for awhile and Ginger makes her first true friend, Alex. One day after hanging out with Alex, she realizes she should get home to help out her younger sister with the kids. When rounding the corner she sees emergency vehicles in front of her house and realizes something bad happened. Her little brother was a victim of a hit and run. Her mother, of course, wasn’t around and couldn’t get on the phone.Grandma was at a hair appointment but came rushing to the hospital. In a coma and in intensive care, her brother would have to stay there awhile. Iris got another boyfriend. Ginger didn’t like him because he was like all the rest. One day Ginger came home to find a different man in her house. Explaining where everybody was to her triggered an old, horrible memory of the same scene. When she was younger she was raped by one of her mother’s boyfriends, and it seemed like that was going to happen again. But something this man said caught her attention. He said that Iris told him that she was pretty and he paid two hundred dollars for her.Realizing that Iris sold her oldest daughter twice now was astonishing. She ran to Alex’s house, told her and they made a plan to run away to Las Vegas. When she returned home, her grandmother was on the phone with news that the brother would be okay and can come home soon. She was happy but knew she needed to leave. She saw where Iris hid her cash and took all of it and left a note. It said you owe me a lot more, I hate you. Alex and Ginger left for Vegas that night on a bus and were picked up by Alex’s dad’s old girlfriend. She agreed to let them live there for awhile but would have to pay rent after the first week.After two weeks not being able to find work, she had a proposition for the girls. They began to work for her at Have Ur Cake Escorts. Ginger did not want to be a prostitute and have sex with strange men and end up like her mother, so they both were strippers. They brought in a lot of cash and easily got themselves their own place. Soon though, Alex began to have sex for money and this upset Ginger. She also notices a girl that lives close to her doing the same thing. She wants to make sure this girl is okay, so every other day or so she knocks on the door to make sure she’s at least alive.Alex also meets a girl who looks dirty and broken. She gives her money and tells her to eat, shower and go home. Alex begins to sneak out early in the morning and this really angers Ginger. She decides to go out and look for her. Finding her talking to a guy, Ginger interrupts. Turns out the guy is an undercover police officer and arrests both of them. In court, the judge, knowing they’re underage, gives them a choice: they can call their family and go home or they can go into a center for recovering teenage prostitutes. Alex decides that she’s not going home but Ginger thinks it’s time. She calls and her grandmother answers. Her little brother has recovered, but Iris found out she has AIDS. That’s where Ginger’s story ends. Cody lives in Las Vegas with his mom, stepdad and younger brother, Cory. He has recently broken up with his girlfriend and finds himself in an interesting place with her best friend. She likes him and always has, so he figures why not. She has an older brother that is into all types of things. He likes his drugs and money. He gambles and has Cody to play poker with him and some of his friends. Cody learns that his stepdad is sick and his brother has been copping with it in an extreme way.Cory has developed a drinking problem at the tender age of 14 to try to block out what is happening to his family. Their stepdad passes away and things start to spin out of control for the whole family. Cody has developed a gambling addiction and begins online and sports gambling as well as the poker games. He runs out of money from his account and decides to use his stepdad’s credit cards. That money is soon dwindling. His mom is struggling to pay bills and their house is about to go up for foreclosure. Cody does seem to have luck at the poker games, he had won a couple hundred in one night, but another time, he was down a couple hundred.He meets a girlfriend of one of the guys and starts to talk to her about some of his money issues. She introduces him to the business that she works for, Have Ur Cake Escorts. He considers the idea, and being desperate, decides that this is the only option. He tells his mom that he’s working for a temp service and that explains why sometimes there’s more money than other times, he works odd hours and she can never call or stop in at work. He’s totally straight, so when he found out that it will be mostly men he’ll be dealing with, he almost turned away. But he knew how much his family needed the money.It helped; his house was no longer at risk for foreclosure, but their money problems weren’t gone. Cory had tried to rob a house and another time he actually succeeded, resulting in him being in juvenile hall. Desperate times call for desperate measures and that’s exactly what was happening. While playing poker one night, he got a call that a client wanted to have a threesome, so he and that girl always are on the job for those. He briefly said something to her boyfriend at poker about her having to work that night and he never would have guessed what the outcome of that would have been.Cody won six hundred dollars on one hand and knew it was time to go. He headed over to the client’s house and she was already there. All of a sudden, there was a big rush of power and then darkness. She had told her boyfriend that she had quit the business, and knowing otherwise, he tracked her down. This resulted in the client and the girl dying and Cody being rushed to the hospital. In a coma for awhile with his mother constantly by his side, is what that attack did. When he finally awoke, he saw his mom, asking him to stop whatever he had been doing; everything will be okay.Cody’s story ended there. I really enjoyed this book and reading about these different characters. I felt more sorry for some than others. I would recommend it to someone my age as a leisurely read. The endings weren’t very satisfying, but if this actually happened, the endings wouldn’t be happy and I think that’s what the author wanted to get across. Just because you make a mistake, doesn’t mean it can be easily fixed, nothing is easy and life doesn’t always turn out to be what you hoped. Ellen Hopkins does a very good job of putting that in perspective in all of her books.