Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Plagued by a neurotic bipolar mother, a nightmarish childhood, and the end of a forbidden romance, Vanessa, Tony, and Connor, all made the tragic decision to act on impulse. Their attempted suicides by a razor blade, a handful of pills, and a gun, respectfully, landed these three troubled teens straight into a rehabilitation center, Aspen Springs. As much as they all despise living in what they relate to a prison, the three new arrivals become unlikely friends. From cafeteria fights, intense psychiatrist sessions, and a few days rappelling down mountains out in the wilderness, they begin to finally meet the people they are inside.

Author Ellen Hopkins is a master at looking through the eyes of distressed teenagers and telling their stories from the worst rock bottom to the highest accomplishment. Hopkins’s riveting style of relating the story in poetry form gives the book a very fluid feel that almost urges you to not put the book down. This is a story about real life, family, friends, love and choices. Impulse follows the long, hard journey of Vanessa, Tony and Connor as they go through the stages involved with discovering oneself and what (or who) they have to live for. But will all three of them realize their purpose for living, or have they reached a point of no return where they will rely only on their impulses to escape?--Ivy Tuber