Wrecked is the story of a young girl who is in a freak auto accident that ends up killing her brother’s girlfriend. The primary focus is on the aftermath and how Anna, her family and friends deal with the impact it has on their lives. Most significantly, how as a family they manage the role Anna played in the accident along with how Jack (her brother) deals with the loss of his girlfriend.The plot was straight-forward and wasn’t one in which there was a great deal of twist and turns. What you read on the back of the book is exactly what the book provides. It is thoughtful and focused on a great deal of emotional turmoil. Given that fact, the most important elements of the story were character growth and development as opposed to the events that happen themselves. It was all about how the accident touched different lives and how the ramifications of that event are dealt with. The subject matter is pretty heavy and in all honesty there wasn’t a great deal of levity or happy times. There was a small romantic angle developing as Anna was working through her recovery but it was a relatively minuscule part of the book comparatively speaking. I wouldn’t characterize this book as “dark” but I would certainly say it’s not fluffy by any stretch of the imagination.A large part of the plot focuses on Anna’s post traumatic stress and the use of therapy as a way to work through it. While I liked that this was emphasized I felt that Frank, a therapist by profession, was too focused on some of the more technical aspects of therapy for PTSD patients. At times it felt like a guide book on therapeutic methods. There is no question that these methods were certainly interesting and clearly it’s realistically portrayed but I’m not entirely convinced that a younger readers would be as enthralled by it. I think those are the parts of the story that make it more appealing for an adult reader and even then it did get a little bit heavy handed.Having said that I do appreciate that therapy was included in the focus of the story. That Anna was able to find a way to come to terms with her role in the accident and to work through some of the scariest parts (reconstructing relationships, dealing with panic attacks, fear of being behind the wheel again) through a realistic and muted recovery process. There was certainly fear and trepidation but it never felt melodramatic or hysterical.*spoiler*I also liked that Frank wasn’t afraid to leave the ending to the story open-ended. She demonstrated that therapy isn’t a quick fix and that it takes a lot of hard work. That it requires dedication and hard work. In the end you may see progress and relief but it isn’t something that happens overnight. I had a great respect for the ending even though I generally like a book to tie things up concretely.*end spoiler*As I mentioned, Wrecked is largely about character development. Each individual fit their respective role appropriately – traumatized teen, supportive parent, unsupportive parent, and so on. The emotions they conveyed were understandable and relatable. For her part Anna was subdued with her friends and family and as her frustration rose she acted out in strange ways. She was certainly remorseful and not at all short on guilt. She tried desperately to re-connect with her brother and best friend (who was also in the accident) both of whom were changed significantly as a result of that night as well. She even tried to make new connections with a potential boyfriend in Seth. Her journey was fraught with ups and downs and was definitely not the easiest to travel.Frank did an excellent job of constructing Cameron, the deceased girlfriend. Though she was not physically there it almost felt like she was her memory was so palpable. Learning about her through the eyes of others as well as a series of small flashbacks she was as lively a character as any of the others in the story. I also commend Frank for not raising her too high on a pedestal. She was good and beautiful but thankfully the degree of focus kept it from feeling forced or overbearing. It was just the right amount of attention to further the story and emotional impact others were experiencing.The narrator did an excellent job portraying Anna. Her voice was young enough to sound like a teen realistically and she was more than capable of conveying the emotion of the tragedy and trauma well. I do like when a narrator is able to better distinguish between the voices of characters and Hvam wasn’t always able to do so. Having said that, this fact didn’t take away from the overall experience too much; mainly because the number of characters was limited and the bulk of the story was focused on descriptive elements as well as Anna and her inner monologues.In the end, this is a good book that espouses the value and benefits of therapy. It’s an emotional journey that allows for the reader to experience traumatic events in a safe way and understandable way. Well worth your time if the subject matter appeals.
I read this book a few years ago and decided to re-read it and give it a review. For it’s simplistic storyline and very straight forward description, this is actually a great read. It is a Young Adult book about a girl named Anna who goes to a party with her best friend, Ellen, and drinks for the first time. After a couple shots and about three hours later, Anna realizes she missed curfew and drives herself and Ellen home. On the way, Anna and Ellen get into a serious car accident. All Anna can remember is a U2 song playing the same lyrics over and over, a terrible smacking sound, and her best friend Ellen laying in her lap, bloody. She keeps hearing screaming, not knowing who it is, and then eventually passes out. After she wakes up, she learns that Ellen is in the intensive care unit with a collapsed lung, a broken leg, and multiple broken ribs. She also learns that there was another car involved in the accident, and that the driver was her brother Jack’s girlfriend, Cameron..who ended up dying shortly after impact.We have all read news articles and heard stories about someone that was drinking, getting into a car accident and killing another car full of people, and then walking away unharmed. Anna has some blood in her eye afterwards and has to wear an eye protector, but walks away with hardly any physical damage. Which of course doesn’t help the guilt that she is feeling after almost killing her best friend and ACTUALLY killing her brother’s girlfriend. This story takes you through Anna dealing with the emotional pain and blaming herself for everything that happened, while all the while trying to ensure that her brother can forgive her.There are two things about this story that bother me: FIRST, Anna drank a few shots before she drove and her father told her in the hospital that her blood alcohol content was under the legal limit. Later in the story you learn that there will be no lawsuits because it was purely an accident, but I mean COME ON! No underage person who has alcohol in their system and gets into a SERIOUS car accident is going to not get some kind of punishment. Where is her DUI? Why was nothing mentioned about her being underage and drinking? That’s great that she was under the legal limit, but she wasn’t even legal to be drinking in the first place! I wish the author would have at least mentioned something on the matter instead of just passing it by. The SECOND thing that bothered me was the way everyone acted towards Anna afterwards. You would think that there would be people that were angry with Anna for what happened, though it was an accident. But people deal with loss in different ways, so I am just a little surprised she didn’t get told off by at least one person. Her brother Jack deals with his pain of what happened by being short with Anna and refusing to talk about Cameron for a long time, which is completely understandable, but that is about as mean as anybody gets about it.The author had an amazing way of writing the story and tying in different things that would let you get to know Anna and her family dynamics more. Anna would be conversing with a family member or friend and something would trigger a memory for her. So the story would skip over to the memory, and then go back to the conversation. I absolutely LOVED this! It helps the reader feel like they know the characters more, and it is something that happens to everyone so it made the story much more…human? Yeah, let’s go with human. Another part of the story I enjoyed was Anna’s love interest Seth, and her keeping him at arms length while she figures things out. I am SO glad that the author didn’t make this all about a love story and forget about the real issue at hand.Overall, the story is really fantastic. I would say it is for a younger audience, but I think everyone can relate to the story in one way or another. I have always wondered what it must be like for someone who goes through an experience like that, and this story definitely sheds some light on the sadness and guilt one can feel. This book makes you feel sad and guilty, but also comforted in the end. I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something that doesn’t have an overwhelming love story and will make you think twice about the decisions you make.With love and other words,Jenaca ♥
Do You like book Wrecked (2007)?
I thought this book had high potential based on the summary, but I was wrong. It starts out with Anna getting into a car accident and killing her brother's girlfriend. The whole book is her coming to grips with the accident. The flashbacks and reality are poorly separated and don't make a lot of sense. I found several of the characters to be unrealistic. The ending was awful in my opinion. It was like the author decided they didn't want to write anymore and just ended it there. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Terribly disappointed.
—Alicia Hower
Imagine re-living a bad memory that you want nothing from except to forget. Now imagine you can't do very much to forget about it. It wouldn't be very fun living like that would it? Nobody wants to remember, let alone re-live a terrible event that you have had to struggle through. You would try to forget about it,but it keeps coming back to haunt you, and there isn't much you can do about it. A life like that would not be a very enjoyable way to live. 'Wrecked' by E.R Frank is a realistic fiction book that teaches the reader that no matter the situation, you can overcome your struggles and move on with your life.Anna wants to move past the horrible accident that killed her brothers girlfriend, but she keeps having reoccurring nightmares that bring the accident back up, so it's very hard for her to forget about it. An excerpt from the book that illustrates the theme of 'do what you want, not what others want', is, "if she wants to go, she'll go."If you like this book, you may also like 'Life is Funny' by E.R Frank, because it's by the same author, and it was a top ten ALA 2001 quick pick. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars because although it kept me interested for the majority of the book, there were a few flat spots that lost my attention and seemed to drag on.
—Lexie Mulhern
"'Anna, listen to me,' she says...The driver of the other car died.''I know,' I tell her, but my jaw and mouth are chattering so much, I can't make the words.'Anna,' my mother says. She pulls her arms even tighter, and I'm glad because I think I might shake myself right off the bed onto the floor if she weren't here, holding me together. 'It was Cameron Polk,' she says."Anna and Ellen just wanted to go to the party and have fun. But a night that starts with them drinking and partying results in an eye injury, a broken leg, a collapsed lung, broken ribs, and, most importantly, the death of Cameron Polk, the girlfriend of Anna's brother. Anna cannot shake off the guilt that follows her around like a lost puppy despite the fact that the cops, her parents, and everyone else tells her that the car accident was not Anna's fault. Plagued with "heart attacks," nightmares, and a new fear of driving, Anna is trying to convince herself that everything will be okay, but reality hits when Anna hears her brother crying in his room every night since the death of Cameron Polk. Because she knows that she was the driver of the other car that killed her.Ultimately this book was okay. I did not get as into it as I had anticipated. The book started out really good. It had such a great start that I had problems putting the book down. However, the ending was not all it was cracked up to be -- in other words, the ending was not what I had anticipated, but in a bad way. The characters also did not intrigue me. There was nothing "special" that made each character stick out, and I felt that each character, especially Anna, could have used that. However, the book had one great quality. The aftershock of getting into a car accident where the other driver dies was pretty accurate. I was researching some of the common characteristics of those who suffer this type of situation, and I found that the author did a wonderful job portraying them.I do not think this is a book that I could teach to a whole class. There were not many themes or metaphors that I found throughout the book. I also found problems with some of the content issues, such as alcohol and sexuality. These may cause concerns for parents. However, I do not discourage recommending it to a student who may have suffered similar circumstances. If this happens to be the case, I would recommend providing it to a high school audience. Some of the issues brought up in the book may not be suitable to middle schoolers.
—Elizabeth
