{{short description|American writer}} {{for|American actress|Miriam Hopkins}} {{Infobox writer | name = Ellen Hopkins | image = Ellen hopkins 2011.jpg | caption = Hopkins at the 2011 Texas Book Festival | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|3|26}} | birth_place = Long Beach, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Novelist, poet | alma_mater = Santa Ynez Valley Union High School<br>Crafton Hills College<br>University of California, Santa Barbara | yearsactive = 1990–present | genre = Young adult/Adult | website = {{URL|http://www.ellenhopkinsbooks.com}} | spouse = John Hopkins |signature = }} '''Ellen Louise Hopkins''' (born March 26, 1955) is a novelist who has published several ''New York Times'' bestselling novels that are popular among the teenage and young adult audience.<ref name="Ellen Hopkins">{{cite web |title=Ellen Hopkins |url=http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031065047/http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult|archive-date=2011-10-31}}</ref>
== Personal life == Hopkins was adopted by Albert and Valeria Wagner when they were 72 and 42 respectively.<ref name="bio">{{cite web |title=Bio |url=http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/bio/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031031420/http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/bio/ |archive-date=2011-10-31}}</ref> Her first poem was published in the ''Palm Springs Desert Sun'' when she was nine.<ref name="bio" /> Hopkins graduated from a high school in the Santa Ynez Valley, then studied journalism at Crafton Hills College and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Hopkins dropped out of university before graduation to start a family and business. She had two children, Jason and Cristal. When her marriage failed, she sold her business and began freelance work. Following her divorce, she had a daughter, Kelly, with a man she considered to be a 'rebound'. He was abusive and kidnapped Kelly, keeping her in secrecy for three years. Kelly was later found by her paternal great-grandmother. Around 1991, she married John Hopkins, her current husband. They also adopted their daughter Cristal's son, Orion. In 1990, Hopkins and her family moved to northern Nevada.{{Cn|date=May 2026}}
While in Nevada, she decided to write for a living. She started out freelancing newspaper and magazine articles, then moved from there into children's nonfiction.<ref name="bio" /> Hopkins believes most of her writing talent originates from her own talent and also from her adoptive mother.<ref>{{cite web |title=Page Title |date=23 January 2025 |url=http://www.ellenhopkins.com/Bio.html}}</ref> She also considers her fifth-grade teacher the first person to encourage her to become a professional writer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Powells.com Ink Q&A - Ellen Hopkins - Powell's Books |url=http://www.powells.com/kidsqa/hopkins.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517043808/http://www.powells.com/kidsqa/hopkins.html |archive-date=2008-05-17}}</ref>
Later in life, Hopkins found her biological mother, Toni Chandler, who was also a writer and poet.{{Cn|date=May 2026}}
== Education ==
* Santa Ynez Valley Union High School (graduated 1973) * Crafton Hills College, UCSB * Institute of Children's Literature<ref name="books">{{Cite web |title=About |url=http://www.ellenhopkinsbooks.com/about.html |access-date=2023-08-05 |website=www.ellenhopkinsbooks.com |archive-date=2020-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200312041910/http://www.ellenhopkinsbooks.com/about.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Writers groups ===
* 1995-1997 WNCC Lone Mountain Writers Group * 1997-1999 Breakaway Writers Group * 1998–present Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; served as regional adviser for the Nevada chapter for ten years and currently sits on the Board of Advisers. * 1999-2005 Unnamed Writers; served on the board, 2005 * 2001-2002 Chairman of the Board, New Writers of the Purple Sage * 2002–present Ash Canyon Poets<ref name="books" />
== Career == Hopkins began her writing career in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/about/|title=About|access-date=2011-09-22|archive-date=2017-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223235019/http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/about|url-status=dead}}</ref> She started with nonfiction books for children, including ''Air Devils'' and ''Orcas: High Seas Supermen''.
Hopkins has since written several verse novels exposing teenage struggles such as drug addiction, mental illness, and prostitution, including ''Crank'', ''Burned'', ''Impulse'', ''Identical'', ''Glass'', ''Tricks'', ''Tilt'', and ''Fallout''. ''Glass'' is the sequel to ''Crank'', and ''Fallout'', the third and final book in the series, was released on September 14, 2010. ''Perfect'' was released on September 13, 2011, and is a companion novel to ''Impulse''. ''Tilt'', was released September 11, 2012, and is a companion from the point of view of the teens mentioned in ''Triangles''. Hopkins felt they needed their own story after the release of ''Triangles''.{{Cn|date=May 2026}}
Her second adult novel, ''Collateral'', came out in the fall of 2012. In 2013, she released the sequel to her bestselling book ''Burned'' titled ''Smoke''. ''Rumble'' released August 2014, is about a boy questioning his faith after his brother commits suicide. In 2015, she released ''Love Lies Beneath'', about a woman who falls in love with a sociopath, and ''Traffick '', a sequel to her bestseller ''Tricks''. ''People Kill People'' was released in September 2018.{{Cn|date=May 2026}}
In 2006, Hopkins was recognized with a Silver Pen Award (for emerging writers) from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://guides.library.unr.edu/nvwriters-hall-of-fame/silver-pen-recipients |title=Silver Pen Recipients |website=unr.edu }}{{Dead link|date=May 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> She was inducted as a full member into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://guides.library.unr.edu/nvwriters-hall-of-fame/hopkins-2015 |title=Nevada Writers Hall of Fame |website=unr.edu }}{{Dead link|date=May 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
=== Inspiration === Hopkins's primary inspiration for her first novels (i.e., the ''Crank'' series) comes from her eldest daughter, who "was addicted to crystal methamphetamine and spent two years in prison."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Pavao |first1=Kate |last2=Bookshelf {{!}} |first2=Children's |title=Children's Bookshelf Talks with Ellen Hopkins |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/14351-children-s-bookshelf-talks-with-ellen-hopkins.html |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=Publishers Weekly |language=en |archive-date=2022-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806223632/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/14351-children-s-bookshelf-talks-with-ellen-hopkins.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2007, her daughter had been sober for five years.<ref name=":0" /> In an interview discussing ''Glass'' and ''Crank'', Hopkins said, "I really want both books to be an honest look at the depth and the nature of this addiction. It's not that easy to shake, and I really wanted that to be made very clear."<ref name=":0" /> On December 31, 2014, Hopkins stated in her online journal that, “My relationship with my daughter, long tenuous, disintegrated completely.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ellenhopkins.livejournal.com/22523.html |title=F**K 2014 |website=Ellen Hopkins Live Journal |date=December 31, 2014}}</ref> They have since been on speaking terms.{{Cn|date=May 2026}}
Ellen's daughter, Cristal, who is the inspiration for the character Kristina Snow in the ''Crank'' series, is now married and is a realtor. She has a YouTube channel under the name "Cristal Thetford", where she openly addresses her experiences with drug addiction.{{Cn|date=May 2026}}
Some of the themes discussed in ''Identical'' are inspired by friends of Hopkins who have suffered sexual abuse.<ref name=":0" />
=== Censorship === Hopkins's books have regularly been included in the American Library Association's lists of the most frequently banned and challenged books in the United States. Four of her novels were included in the list of the top 100 banned and challenged novels between 2010 and 2019: ''Crank'' (38th), ''Burned'' (83rd), ''Glass'' (86th), and ''Tricks'' (98th).<ref>{{Cite web |last=KPEKOLL |date=2020-09-09 |title=Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019 |url=https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019 |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=Advocacy, Legislation & Issues |language=en |archive-date=2020-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927125855/http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010, ''Crank'' made the top ten list.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-03-26 |title=Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists |url=https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=American Library Association |language=en |archive-date=2017-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728055307/http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2022, five of Hopkins's novels (''Crank, Fallout, Impulse, People Kill People'', and ''Tilt'') were listed among 52 books banned by the Alpine School District following the implementation of Utah law H.B. 374, “Sensitive Materials In Schools."<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2022-08-01 |title=Ban on 52 Books in Largest Utah School District is a Worrisome Escalation of Censorship |url=https://pen.org/press-release/ban-on-52-books-in-largest-utah-school-district-is-a-worrisome-escalation-of-censorship/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=PEN America |language=en |archive-date=2022-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805150751/https://pen.org/press-release/ban-on-52-books-in-largest-utah-school-district-is-a-worrisome-escalation-of-censorship/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Forty-two percent of removed books “feature LBGTQ+ characters and or themes.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=School District Removes 52 Books From Libraries |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/school-district-removes-52-books-from-libraries/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en |archive-date=2022-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805150751/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/school-district-removes-52-books-from-libraries/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":02" /> Many of the books were removed because they were considered to contain pornographic material according to the new law, which defines porn using the following criteria:
* "The average person" would find that the material, on the whole, "appeals to prurient interest in sex"<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Mullahy |first=Brian |date=2022-07-28 |title=Alpine School District pulls dozens of books from school library shelves |url=https://kutv.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/alpine-school-district-pulls-dozens-sensitive-materials-books-from-school-library-shelves-utah-state-legislature |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=KUTV |language=en |archive-date=2022-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805082032/https://kutv.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/alpine-school-district-pulls-dozens-sensitive-materials-books-from-school-library-shelves-utah-state-legislature |url-status=live }}</ref> * The material "is patently offensive in the description or depiction of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sadomasochistic abuse, or excretion"<ref name=":2" /> * The material, on the whole, "does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."<ref name=":2" />
==Publications== * (YA) = Young Adult * (A) = Adult
===''Crank'' trilogy=== * ''Crank'' (2004) (YA) * ''Glass'' (2007) (YA) * ''Fallout'' (2010) (YA)
===''Burned'' series=== * ''Burned'' (2006) (YA) * ''Smoke'' (2013) (YA)
===''Impulse'' series=== *''Impulse'' (2007) (YA) * ''Perfect'' (2011) (YA)
===''Triangles'' and ''Tilt'' (YA Companion)=== * ''Triangles'' (2011) (A) * ''Tilt'' (2012) (YA) [companion novel]
===''Tricks'' series=== * ''Tricks'' (2009) (YA) * ''Traffick'' (Fall 2015) (YA)
===''Love Lies Beneath'' novels=== *''Love Lies Beneath'' (2015) (A) *''A Sin Such as This'' (2018) (A)
===Other novels=== * ''Identical'' (2008) (YA) * ''Collateral'' (2012) (A) * ''Rumble'' (2014) (YA) * ''The You I've Never Known'' (January 2017) (YA) * ''People Kill People'' (2018) (YA) * ''Closer to Nowhere'' (2020) * ''What About Will'' (2021) (YA) * ''Sync'' (2024) (YA)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}} *[https://www.facebook.com/ellenhopkinsauthor Ellen Hopkins' Facebook] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110127112942/http://ellenhopkins.livejournal.com/ Ellen Hopkins: Ellen Hopkins' Livejournal] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081022133236/http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=91144056 Myspace Page] *[https://twitter.com/EllenHopkinsYA Ellen Hopkins' Twitter Stream] *[http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6466894.html Publishers Weekly interview] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080517043808/http://www.powells.com/kidsqa/hopkins.html Interview at Powells.com]
{{Ellen Hopkins}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Ellen}} Category:21st-century American novelists Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Category:American writers of young adult novels Category:Writers from Long Beach, California Category:21st-century American women novelists Category:20th-century American women poets Category:21st-century American poets Category:20th-century American writers Category:American adoptees Category:American women writers of young adult literature Category:Crafton Hills College people Category:University of California, Santa Barbara people