The Ellen Hopkins books in order include connected young adult series, standalone YA and adult novels, middle-grade fiction, children’s nonfiction, and contributions to multi-author collections. Hopkins is best known for novels in free verse that explore addiction, abuse, mental health, exploitation, family conflict, and the consequences of difficult choices.
Several of her novels are connected, while many others stand alone. I’ve grouped the books by series and audience so you can quickly see which Ellen Hopkins books go together and choose the right place to start.
Jump to:
- Ellen Hopkins Books by Series
- Ellen Hopkins Young Adult Standalone Books
- Ellen Hopkins Adult Standalone Books
- Ellen Hopkins Middle-Grade Books
- Ellen Hopkins Nonfiction Books
- Ellen Hopkins Edited Books, Anthologies, and Other Contributions
- Ellen Hopkins Book Adaptations
- About Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins Books by Series
Ellen Hopkins’s connected books are the Crank trilogy; Burned and Smoke; Impulse and Perfect; Tricks and Traffick; the companion novels Triangles and Tilt; and the Love Lies Beneath books. I recommend following the order shown below, especially for the direct sequels.
Crank Books
Crank is fiction inspired by Hopkins’s family experience with her daughter’s meth addiction. Glass continues Kristina’s story, while Fallout follows three of her children. Fallout comes after Glass and completes the trilogy.
Burned Books
Smoke continues Pattyn’s story and also follows her sister Jackie, so read it after Burned.
Impulse Books
Perfect is a companion novel that unfolds alongside Impulse and follows a different group of characters. I’d read Impulse first because it establishes the shared timeline and one of the most important connections between the books.
Tricks Books
Traffick continues the stories of the five teenagers introduced in Tricks. My advice is to read these two in publication order.
Triangles Books
Triangles and Tilt are connected companion novels rather than a conventional duology. Triangles is an adult novel about three women, while Tilt is a YA novel centered on teenagers from the same families. I prefer reading Triangles first because it gives the family relationships more context.
Love Lies Beneath Books
The Love Lies Beneath books are adult suspense novels. “On the Rocks” is a short prequel, and A Sin Such as This continues the story begun in Love Lies Beneath.
- On the Rocks (2015) (Short Story)
- Love Lies Beneath (2015)
- A Sin Such as This (2018)
Ellen Hopkins Young Adult Standalone Books
These young adult novels are independent stories and can be read in any order. I’d start with the premise that interests you most.
- Identical (2008)
- Rumble (2014)
- The You I’ve Never Known (2017)
- People Kill People (2018)
- Sync (2024)
Ellen Hopkins Adult Standalone Books
Collateral is Hopkins’s only adult standalone novel. Her other adult novels appear above in the Triangles companion pair and the Love Lies Beneath series.
- Collateral (2012)
Ellen Hopkins Middle-Grade Books
Hopkins’s middle-grade novels are separate stories, so you can read them in either order. Both are novels in verse written for younger readers than her YA books.
- Closer to Nowhere (2020)
- What About Will (2021)
Ellen Hopkins Nonfiction Books
Before publishing Crank, Hopkins wrote nonfiction for younger readers about aviation, natural science, fishing, space, the U.S. military, and Nevada. These books are standalones, so I’ve listed them by their original U.S. publication years rather than by later reissues or retitled editions.
- Air Devils: Sky Racers, Sky Divers, and Stunt Pilots (2000)
- Orcas: High Seas Supermen (2000)
- Tarnished Legacy: The Story of the Comstock Lode (2000)
- Into the Abyss: A Tour of Inner Space (2001)
- The Thunderbirds: The U.S. Air Force Aerial Demonstration Squadron (2001)
- The Golden Knights: The U.S. Army Parachute Team (2001)
- Canopies in the Clouds: Earth’s Rain Forests (2001)
- Countdown to Yesterday: Earth’s Prehistoric Past (2001)
- Fly Fishing (2001)
- Freshwater Fishing (2001)
- United States Air Force (2003)
- United States Air Force Fighting Vehicles (2003)
- United States Special Operations Forces (2003)
- All for Our Country: Check Out Nevada! (2003)
- Light Shows: Comets, Meteors & Asteroids (2003)
- Mysteries of Space (2003)
- Are We Alone? The Case for Extraterrestrial Life (2003)
- Inside a Star (2003)
- Telescopes: Exploring the Beyond (2003)
- Storming the Skies: The Story of Katherine and Marjorie Stinson, Pioneer Women Aviators (2004)
Ellen Hopkins Edited Books, Anthologies, and Other Contributions
Hopkins has edited essay collections and contributed fiction, poetry, introductions, and personal essays to books featuring multiple writers. Her short story “Death Carries a Peculiar Perfume” appears in Weird Tales Magazine No. 370.
- A New Dawn: Your Favorite Authors on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series (2008) (Editor)
- Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Stories About Falling Out of Love by Four Incredible Authors (2008) (Contributor)
- Does This Book Make Me Look Fat? (2008) (Contributor)
- Flirtin’ with the Monster: Your Favorite Authors on Ellen Hopkins’ Crank and Glass (2009) (Editor)
- Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories (2011) (Introduction)
- Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves (2012) (Contributor)
- Grim (2014) (Contributor)
- One Death, Nine Stories (2014) (Contributor)
- Scary Out There (2016) (Contributor)
- Behind the Song (2017) (Contributor)
- Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles (2018) (Contributor)
- Our Stories, Our Voices (2018) (Contributor)
- You Too?: 25 Voices Share Their #MeToo Stories (2020) (Contributor)
- Weird Tales Magazine No. 370: Monster Issue (2024) (Contributor)
- Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights (2025) (Contributor)
Ellen Hopkins Book Adaptations
Crank was adapted into CRANK: Flirting with the Monster (2015), a filmed theatrical production developed with Hopkins. It is unrelated to the 2006 Jason Statham action movie titled Crank.
About Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins is a bestselling author best known for young adult novels in free verse. Her fiction also includes middle-grade and adult books, and she published children’s nonfiction before moving into novels.
Hopkins often writes about choices, consequences, addiction, abuse, exploitation, mental health, and family conflict. Her willingness to address difficult subjects has made her books meaningful to many readers, while also making them frequent targets of challenges and bans.
Crank, her first novel, was inspired by her family’s experience with her daughter’s meth addiction, but it is fiction rather than a literal autobiography. In my view, its emotional honesty and distinctive free-verse format make it the most natural starting point for readers who want to understand the work Hopkins is best known for.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Books in Order index.