Fallout

Also by Ellen Hopkins

Crank

Burned

Impulse

Glass

Identical

Tricks

Margaret K. McElderry Books

MARGARET K. MCELDERRY BOOKS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2010 by Ellen Hopkins

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

M
ARGARET
K. M
CELDERRY
B
OOKS
is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Book edited by Emma D. Dryden

Book design by Mike Rosamilia

The text for this book is set in Trade Gothic Condensed No. 18.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hopkins, Ellen.

Fallout / Ellen Hopkins.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: Written in free verse, explores how three teenagers try to cope with the consequences of their mother’s addiction to crystal meth and its effects on their lives.

ISBN 978-1-4169-5009-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4424-0945-3 (eBook)

[1. Novels in verse. 2. Drug abuse—Fiction. 3. Emotional problems—Fiction.
4. Family problems—Fiction. 5. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 6. Mothers—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.5.H67Fal 2010 [Fic]—dc22 2009048408

For Orion, Jade, Heaven, Clyde, Eli, and Kalob, always in my heart. For Jason, Cristal, and Kelly, always my children, wherever they are. For John, always my own forever love. And with sincerest love and respect for my editor, Emma Dryden, who enriches my books with her wisdom and enriches my life with her friendship.

With a special nod to Jude Mandell, whose keen insight allowed me to see the direction I needed to go with this book. Many, many thanks, Jude!

R
ENO
G
AZETTE
-J
OURNAL

RENO—Local author Marie Haskins’s fifteenth novel,
Submission
, debuted at the number one spot on the
New York Times
bestseller list. But this time, Haskins writes about a different kind of monster.

“This is a complete departure from my previous books,” Haskins said. “I have finally fulfilled a very old dream and taken the plunge into horror.”

It remains to be seen whether or not her fans will take the plunge with her, as the poems go beyond free verse, into the realm of formal poetry, specifically sonnets. Fortunately for Haskins, a number of words rhyme with “suck.”

“I have long wanted to write about vampires, but chose to wait until the subject was no longer a staple of every publisher’s list,” Haskins said. “My vampires are sophisticated and totally sexy, but set in a future world. Sort of like
Dracula
meets
Star Trek
.”

We Hear

That life was good

before she

met

the monster,

but those page flips

went down before

our collective

cognition. Kristina

wrote

that chapter of her

history before we

were even whispers

in her womb.

The monster shaped

our

lives, without our ever

touching it. Read on

if you dare. This

memoir

isn’t pretty.

Hunter Seth Haskins
SO YOU WANT TO KNOW

All about her. Who

she

really is. (Was?) Why

she swerved off

the high road. Hard

left

to nowhere,

recklessly

indifferent to

me,

Hunter Seth Haskins,

her firstborn

son. I’ve been

choking

that down for

nineteen years.

Why did she go

on

her mindless way,

leaving me spinning

in a whirlwind of

her dust?

IF YOU DON’T KNOW

Her story, I’ll try

my best to enlighten

you, though I’m not sure

of every word of it myself.

I suppose I should know

more. I mean, it has been

recorded for eternity—

a bestselling fictionalization,

so the world wouldn’t see

precisely who we are—

my mixed-up, messed-

up family, a convoluted

collection of mostly regular

people, somehow strengthened

by indissoluble love, despite

an ever-present undercurrent

of pain. The saga started here:

FOREWORD

Kristina Georgia Snow

gave me life in her seventeenth

year. She’s my mother,

but never bothered to be

my mom. That job fell

to her mother, my grandmother,

Marie, whose unfailing love

made her Mom even before

she and Dad (Kristina’s stepfather,

Scott) adopted me.
That was

really your decision
, Mom claims.

You were three when you started

calling us Mama and Papa.

The other kids in your playgroup

had them. You wanted them too.

We became an official

legal family when I was four.

My memory of that day is hazy

at best, but if I reach way,

way back, I can almost see

the lady judge, perched

like an eagle, way high above

little me. I think she was

sniffling. Crying, maybe?

Her voice was gentle.
I want

to thank you, Mr. and Mrs.

Haskins, for loving this child

as he deserves to be loved.

Please accept this small gift
,

which represents that love.

I don’t really remember all

those words, but Mom repeats

them sometimes, usually

when she stares at the crystal

heart, catching morning sun

through the kitchen window.

That part of Kristina’s story

always makes Mom sad.

Here’s a little more of the saga.