Speak

Reader reviewed by safia

A realistic novel about a girl suffering through the harshness of high school. Melinda observes classes and cliques as an outcast. She stops speaking and becomes withdrawn to herself. However, she must learn to speak up about the truth.

A startling but honest and witty read.

Reader reviewed by Diana

Speak is a really intense look into High School, cliques, popularity, and everything else that comes with it.
Melinda, an incoming freshman, goes with her best friend to a wild party at a farm. She gets a little to drunk and some stuff happens. She ends up calling the cops and getting everyone busted. From then on everyone at school hates her, she is completly lost and depressed. Speaks shows your the journey she takes to find herself, fix her mistakes, and heal. Its an awsome, great book and I recomened it to anyone!

Reader reviewed by Kayla

I loved Melinda's voice-all that darkly funny sarcasm.  She was so relatable.  Anderson captured the teenage mind perfectly.  So many of Melinda's descriptions of high school and the students were dead on.  I remember thinking those exact same things when I was her age.

I had seen the movie before reading the book and I think it was adapted just right by using the voice overs (which is pretty much the only way they could have done it considering Melinda almost never speaks).  I'm glad I knew the whole story before reading the book because otherwise the suspense of waiting to find out what had happend to Melinda would have killed me.  I hate being kept in the dark.

I liked the movie a little bit better than the book. Firstly, the parents were more likeable-they came across as more quirky than neglectful. Secondly, art seemed to have a greater importance to Melinda in the movie than it did in the book. It was important in the book too, don't get me wrong. It was what helped Melinda sort through her emotions and find the courage to speak up. But in the movie, it seemed to hold a deeper meaning for her, something more lasting that she would continue doing throughout her life.

Reader reviewed by terra

speak is about this girl that is a social outcast because at the end of the last school year she called the police on this party and now everyone hates her. but did she call them on the party or did somthing happen to her? if somthing did what?

this is a good book and i would reccomend you read it

Reader reviewed by Megan

The book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson, was one in which I have no words for. It was a brilliantly thought out book in many ways. This book was very different from all the books I've ever read, because the heart of the story really got out at the end. The entire first half of the book is just describing this girl's lame life. You wouldn't be able to give a decent summary about it unless you read it cover to cover. Although I found the first half a bit boring, I think that's what the author wanted. She wanted to really prove how boring Melinda Sordino's life really was. You couldn't find one bit of appeal or interest in this girl's life until you find out her secret, which is when you really never want to put the book down. I think it was a great book only if you took it from different views like the author's.

Reader reviewed by Traci

I'm currently a first year Grad Student and in my Adolescent literature class one of the many books we read was Speak..It was my absolute favorite.I couldn't put it down.I think I read it in two days and I usually don't read books that fast. Many think that young adults should read of such things but we shouldn't shelter our children from reality..I actually had to do a 30 minute presentation on this book, I also watched the movie..The book was Better!!!Good Job Laurie

Reader reviewed by Keshia

In Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak" a teenaged girl named Melinda is starting her high school year after she lost all her friends when she called the cops in a party and got some guys arrested. No one wants to hear her side of the story and she can't even confront what happened until she finally finds her voice.

This book had another take on teenaged angst from an outsider without over doing it. At the end the final confrontation with what happened is great and the way she heals afterwards is too. I was happy with reading this book.

A great read.

It's a fast read.

I was going to rate this book 3 stars. I already knew what happened to Melinda so it kinda spoiled the suspance for me. I couldn't wait to get to the point in which the story would get "juicy" so I rushed the first part. It was my fault and I'm sorry about that. The ending though was what convinced me to add the fourth star.

"I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here. So, how can I find my way?"

Melinda is a character you end up caring for. She's in pain, she hides a secret she's scared to share with the world. She gets bullied and betrayed. Everybody sees she's unwell but nobody cares to understand her. It was just heartbreaking and unfair. Her journey is an awful one, she has to face her former friend growing up without her, hating her for a fault she doesn't have, and has to face the cause of her nightmares everyday at school. When she gets better it is because she decides to get better, she is tired of being passive, of being the scared rabbit who runs away when things get bad. She rationalize her pain, understand she's been through something bad and that she's not accountable for it. Someone else has to pay, someone else who's not afraid to hurt other people just like he hurt her.

"I said no."

I loved her journey and I loved the ending. This is a book everybody should read. It gives you a precise perspective on a situation that, if you've been lucky enough, you've never and will never experience. You need to read this book because we're in 2015 and there are still people who don't understand what rape is and why people would get upset when getting raped. Since the world is full of ignorant and stupid people we need books like this one and people who are willing to understand and internalize its message, we are the only ones who can fight ignorance and bullies in a constructive way.

The novel opens with Melinda Sordino starting her high school freshman year. She has been ostracised by her friends and fellow students after she called the cops at a summer party. It is clear that something happened. I think most readers will be able to predict what happened at the party but I won’t spoil it.

At school Melinda is befriended by a new girl Heather, only to later be ditched for ‘the Marthas’ a group of popular girls.

She becomes more depressed (Melinda is probably suffering from undiagnosed post traumatic stress disorder) and begins to skip school and frequently challenges parental and authority figures, who see her silence simply as attention seeking behaviour.

There are also literary parallels with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850), which Melinda is studying in English. Hester Prynne, the central character of The Scarlet Letter, like Melinda is a social outcast. Melinda also has a poster of author / poet Maya Angelou in her closet. Angelou was a outsider like Melinda and her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) had been banned by the school.

The novel is written in first person and almost reads like Melinda’s diary. Anderson uses a non-linear narrative with flashbacks disrupting the present. This fragmented narrative structure illustrates Melinda’s depressed state and the trauma she has suffered.

Also what is interesting is that Melinda works through her depression and PSTD herself without seeking professional help, although she does receive support from her lab partner David Petrakis and her art teacher Mr. Freeman.

This coming-of-age problem novel is about a young woman finding her own voice, and speaking up and allowing the truth to set her free. It is a powerful piece of writing for a debut novel.

In 2004 a film version directed by Jessica Sharzer starring Kristin Stewart screened at the Sundance Film Festival and screened on Showtime and Lifetime the following year.