Speak by Laurie Halse AndersonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The first ten lies they tell you in high school.
"Speak up for yourself—we want to know what you have to say."
From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.
In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.
Speak was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.
"Speak up for yourself—we want to know what you have to say."
From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.
In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.
Speak was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.
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As I've come to expect from Laurie Halse Anderson's work, this is a powerful novel. It's about a girl who was raped and how she's been silenced because of it. It's about the people who won't listen to her or give her a chance. It's about how we assume things about other people.
Melinda is a great character. She feels real and authentic. Her narrative voice is so, so strong and I couldn't stop reading this book. It's very much a character-driven story, with less emphasis on plot, but that really works for this story--if there was more of a plot, the important messages would be lost a little.
I found quite a few passages hard to read, precisely because it's so well written that it was just evoking memories in me of bad experiences. I really felt like I was being haunted when I read this book. But the language is just masterful--some of the imagery is just outstanding.
This is a powerful novel that I recommend everyone reads. Trigger-warning for rape.
View all my reviews
As I've come to expect from Laurie Halse Anderson's work, this is a powerful novel. It's about a girl who was raped and how she's been silenced because of it. It's about the people who won't listen to her or give her a chance. It's about how we assume things about other people.
Melinda is a great character. She feels real and authentic. Her narrative voice is so, so strong and I couldn't stop reading this book. It's very much a character-driven story, with less emphasis on plot, but that really works for this story--if there was more of a plot, the important messages would be lost a little.
I found quite a few passages hard to read, precisely because it's so well written that it was just evoking memories in me of bad experiences. I really felt like I was being haunted when I read this book. But the language is just masterful--some of the imagery is just outstanding.
This is a powerful novel that I recommend everyone reads. Trigger-warning for rape.
View all my reviews
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