- Impulse (novel)
Infobox Book |
name = Impulse
image_caption =
author =Ellen Hopkins
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country =United States
language = English
series =
genre = Young Adult
publisher =
release_date =2007
media_type =
pages = 672
isbn = ISBN 978-1416903567 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by = Burned
followed_by = GlassImpulse is a
2007 American Young Adult novel written byEllen Hopkins .Summary
Three troubled teens cross paths at Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital, after attempting suicide. Connor, Tony, and Vanessa all have demons that try to pull them under and get them to succumb to the temptation to try it again; this time making sure they succeed.
Connor's overbearing family, only concerned about his GPA, being like his perfect sister, or his making the varsity football team, or getting into an Ivy League college, offer no solace during his time of need. Feeling suicide is the only answer after a deeply emotional love affair ends, he takes a gun and points it to his chest before pulling the trigger.
Tony, after many years in a juvenile home for a crime that still haunts him and a dark family past, decides to ease his feelings of despair and loneliness by swallowing a handful of pills, only to vomit them up and be found by the police lying on the sidewalk unconscious.
Vanessa is a cutter. In order to ease her mind in any time of stress she slices her skin with anything sharp enough to do the job. One day, when she was drowning in her blue ocean of sadness, she cuts her wrist too deeply. She feels herself slipping into the abyss until her younger brother, Bryan, walks in and finds her. When he calls for their ex-nurse Grandma, she is able to hold off death. Vanessa nearly lost her hand, which had to be sewn back on.
After arriving at Aspen Springs, Connor, Tony, and Vanessa are introduced to a life under constant surveillance, strict routines, and hours and hours or counseling. Immediately the three form a bond, feeling drawn to one another as if they might be able to save each other from death. Together they navigate the regulations of the hospital and make progress toward healing as they tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets; things they won't even tell their counselors.
Sources
http://www.amazon.com/Impulse-Ellen-Hopkins/dp/1416903569
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