Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson

Scholastic books inc

Summary:

Melinda Sordino is a teenage girl living through a hell on earth completely alone. The only person who knows what happened to her the night she called the cops is the very "it" she so wishes she could omit from her memory forever.
Laurie Halse Anderson does a fantastic job telling her story- her coping mechanisms, her day to day, her dark sense of humor, her peers, school, parents and silent existence hiding from the world.



"Its easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say."

Speaking Out

Laurie Halse Anderson

Aspiring writers are often told to follow their dreams.

Wrong.

To tap into the interesting stuff, the dark blood of your heart, the hidden well, you must take another path.

Follow your nightmares.

My young adult novel, Speak, was born out of terror. I woke one night, in the winter of 1996, to the sound of a girl sobbing. I leaped out of bed and dashed down the hall to check on my two daughters. Sound asleep, both of them, no tears on their pillows. They were fine.

But I could still hear a girl crying, hysterical. She was in my head. It was a nightmare.

Continue reading at : http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring00/anderson.html

Personal Review:

This was one of those books you pick up and don't set it down until you've turned the last page and sat contemplating the effects of the novel for at least a half hour before returning to life. I really enjoyed the writing style... the morbid humor. I wanted to scream and fight for Melinda, slap her parents in the face and get this poor girl some therapy. But that's not always the way it works, some people fight the battles all alone. Very good, although do something fun after because its totally depressing to read.

WARNINGS FOR SPEAK: Rape