But when the girls were 9, Daddy started to turn to his beloved Kaeleigh in ways a father never should and has been sexually abusing her for years.įor Raeanne, she needs to numb the pain of not being Daddy's favorite for Kaeleigh, she wants to do everything she can to feel something normal, even if it means cutting herself and vomiting after every binge. Kaeleigh always tries so hard to be the good girl - her father's perfect little flower. Raeanne goes after painkillers, drugs, alcohol, and sex to dull her pain and anger. What really happened when the girls were 7 years old in that car accident that Daddy caused? And why is Mom never home, always running far away to pursue some new dream? (Aug.Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins, the daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for US Congress.Įverything on the surface seems fine, but underneath run very deep and damaging secrets. Means something will anticipate the still-breathless climax all others, including most of the target audience, will be shocked. Often, the twins' entries mirror each other, on facing pages: although used differently in the two poems, the same key words are set off in corresponding stanzas (“think./ How/ different/ life./ could be” reads one set of key words).

Strategically placed concrete verse includes a poem about revenge shaped like a double-edged sword in another, about jealousy, the lines form one heart reflecting another, until a rupture breaks the symmetry at the bottom.

Hopkins's verse is not only lean and sinuous, it also demonstrates a mastery of technique. Brief, gutsy confessions reveal a history of sexual abuse and emotional neglect, and it's not clear that both girls will survive it. We are corpses.” Raeanne seeks escape in sex and drugs Kaileigh binges and cuts herself. But ever since an accident, “Mom doesn't love anyone./ She is marble. Their father is a prominent judge, their mother is running for Congress, and both girls do well in school. The girls' family appears picture-perfect. ) takes readers on a harrowing ride into the psyches of 16-year-old identical twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne, both of whom are racing toward self-destruction. Using free verse as her vehicle, Hopkins ( Crank

Identical ellen hopkins series