Impulse (2007) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Vanessa: A beautiful, young girl who has emotional problems and practicies self-mutilation. She soon connects romantically with the two other main characters.
• Tony: A 'gay' former druggie who has spent his life in and out of juvenile detention facilities.
• Connor: A star football player, very attractive, rich, smart, and popular. He has neglectful parents, a very competitive twin sister, and was sexually involved with his teacher.
• Dr. Starr: Works at a mental facility. Very rude, but apparently wants to help.
• Sean: Vanessa's ex-boyfriend who is the source of her mental and emotional problems.
• Grandma: Vanessa's grandma. A nurse who raised Vanessa and her brother.
• Mama: Vanessa's mother. A bipolar schizophrenic who talked to an 'angel' who often caused her mother to beat herself and eventually Vanessa.
• Phillip: Add a description of this character.
• Stanley: Tries to kill his little brother.
• Emily: Connor's former teacher with whom he had sex with. He loved her, but when the story got out after he shot himself, she left. He wrote a poem about her and is constantly remembering her.
• Cara: Connor's perfect twin, to whom he is often compared to.
• connor: football star

Quotes edit see section history

• “"Love means holding on to someone just as hard as you can because if you don't, one blink and they might disappear...forever."”

• “Pray somehow you can stop the uncertainty, somehow stop the loathing, somehow stop the pain. Act on impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest.”

• “I always preferred to creep into a giant, deep hole where no bad feelings could follow.”

  Connor

• “Memory is a tenuous thing, like a rainbows end or a camera with a failing lens.”

  Connor

• “The first cut wasn't the deepest. No, not at all. It was like the others, a subtle rend of anxious skin, a gentle pulse of crimson, just enough to hush the demons shrieking inside my brain.”

• “Memory is a tenuous thing... flickering glimpses of blue and white, like ancient, decomposing 16mm film. Happiness escapes me there, where faces are vague and yesterday seems to tied up in ribbons of pain. Happiness? I look for it instead in today, where memory is still something I can touch, still rely on. I find it in the smiles on new friends, the hope blooming inside. The happiest memories have no place in the past; they are those I have yet to create.”

  Vanessa

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• “Forever has no meaning when you’re living in the moment. I wasn’t ready for that moment to end.”

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• Love means holding on to someone just as hard as you can because if you don’t, one blink and they might disappear   forever.

  Highlighted by 98 Kindle customers

• Like I’m here, but I’m not. Like someone cares. But they don’t.

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• My happiest memories have no place in the past; they are those I have yet to create.

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• Think how people must have loved each other when all they had was each other.

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• it’s easy to overthink love, to dissect and question it until it is no more.

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• Is like no other kiss, ever. It wants, but does not demand. It asks, but doesn’t take. It gives, and pleads for more. It is filled with desire, but also curiosity, and it teaches me that a kiss should come gift wrapped, not stripped naked.

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• I cut to focus when my              brain is racing. I cut to make physical              what I feel inside. I cut to see blood              because I like it. I don’t like to cut,              but I can’t give it up.

  Highlighted by 54 Kindle customers

• Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest.

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• Eyes that look like they’ve glimpsed behind the gates of hell.

  Highlighted by 45 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Aspen Springs: A mental hospital for teens in Nevada
• Black Rock Desert: For the final stage of their rehabilitation, some of the patients go to this area of wilderness for the final "Challenge": three weeks in the desert, living off the land.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

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• The Paper Airplane: The paper airplane is a symbol that doesn't appear until the end of the book, but it is a prominent symbol. In many books flight, birds, or feathers symbolizes freedom, this book is no different with the paper airplane. The paper airplane also foreshadows the ending of the book.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Perfect.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Ellen Hopkins (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2008)
• Georgia Peach Award (2008, Nominated)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: 2006007854
• Dewey: Add the Dewey Classification.

Notes for Parents edit see section history

This book is definitely for a mature reader. Nobody younger than thirteen should get their hands on this book!

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Teens › Social Issues › Suicide › Fiction
• Books › Gay & Lesbian

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Books That Cite This Book edit see section history