Choices, good or bad, always have consequences. In “Fallout” by Ellen Hopkins the reader meets Autumn and Summer, two girls who know nothing of each other but share one connection. This connection is their meth addicted mother Kristina. The story takes place in present day Texas, Nevada, and California, where the two sisters make major choices that won’t just affect themselves. The central theme of this book is to be wise with decisions because they don’t affect only you. This theme is significant because all through out the book choices are made by Autumn and Summer that create the chain reaction that is “Fallout”.
Early on in the book the reader knows the hardships Autumn and Summer have faced because of their mother’s choices. Shy with OCD Autumn lives with her caring Aunt Cora and abusive grandfather in Texas. All she knows of her father is that he is a three time convicted felon in a Nevada prison who’s name is Trey. She has no clue who her mother is, or if her mother is even alive. Summer, however has seen her mother and knows just who she is, and how her mother and father used to “dance” with the “monster”. Her parent’s choices forced her into foster home after foster home making her more rebellious and hateful after each one. Autumn and Summer’s resentment and efforts to find out who they really are can be seen all through the book.
Autumn and Summer’s internal and external struggles always make their way back to their mother Kristina. Autumn must decide if she really wants to know who her mother is after her father is released from prison, and Autumn’s choice to lie to her boyfriend Bryce turns disastrous. Summer’s fear of being her mother with every decision she makes, causes her to choose between her boyfriend Matt and his best friend Kyle and then her choice to run away with Kyle took a twisty path that led to a happy ending for her. The two girls’ conflicts on how to avoid their mother’s path took a toll on many around them.
Hopkins’s real life tale creates a theme that all can relate to: be careful with your choices, you’re not the only one affected by them. Summer’s choice to run away hurt her new family, but brought her back to her old. Autumn’s choice to meet her mother broke Bryce and her grandfather’s heart, but filled the whole between her father and her. “Fallout reminds people what can happen with one choice, asking the question, “Is this the right choice? If it is, how will this affect someone?”
In “Fallout” the author emphasizes the effect of certain decisions by creating real life situations that change the lives of other people. Summer and Autumn’s choices to follow a certain path help to create the story and make it more and more believable with every decision. Looking back, Hopkins reveals characters through how they deal with choices, whether it is through an impulse or contemplation of the obstacle they must overcome, she shows it in a realistic way. The book leaves the reader thinking about the choices they make and how they affect the people around them.
Gender:
Points: 249
Reviews: 122