Great Books: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Special guest review by William
Melinda Sordino is starting her freshman year at Merryweather
High School. However, she’s a silent outcast. Her classmates refuse to talk to
her after calling the police at a summer party. What they don’t know is that
she was raped on that day. Now, dealing with the traumatic experience, Melinda
struggles to find her voice, mend broken relationships, and confront her fears.
Speak empowers
expression. It is one of the most vivid and enriching Young Adult novels I’ve
read. Using references from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and
poet Maya Angelou; Anderson crafts an effective story of the mind and struggles
of Melinda. The novel creates an open window into her thoughts and I really
felt as if I was beside Melinda the whole time, urging her to step out of the
shadows and speak up. Look for a copy of this book in the library and place it
somewhere on your reading list. Before checking out the film, make sure you
read this brilliant novel.
6 thoughts on “Great Books: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson”
My friend was reading this once! I saw her keep her nose in it and tried to do everything with one hand for a few days.
This definitelystraysfrommtheherd a bit (as far as teen noel archetypes are concerned) which is a good thing
I read this book, but it was a long time ago so I don’t remember much. It was really good though.
I had to study this book in the eighth grade and I really enjoyed it. Well written, a nice length, very symbolic but not overly so – it has all th qualities of a good read. I would also recommend watching the movie version, which was extremely well done as well.
I want to read this book.
Adding it to my list of books to read.