Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

I'm about halfway through Tricks and am really impressed by the way Ellen Hopkins weaves together the stories of five teens' lives.  From the very beginning of the book, I really enjoyed the way that the reader can relate to each teen's emotions and/or situations.  I think every reader could identify with at least one of the characters, to some extent.  The only issue is that, at this point in the book, all of the character's lives are going downhill.  While this is a really interesting and well-written novel, it can be slightly depressing to realize that each character is making choices that may not benefit him or her in the future.  I hope that at least a few of the characters are able to get their lives back on track, but, having read other books by this author, I am not holding my breath.  I am interested to find out how the book ends for each of the characters, though.