Speak

Rating:
Summary: Speaking The Truth
Review: This book was awsome! When I first read it, I read it over and over again. I got my friends to read it too. One of my friends told her cousin to read it, since she had the same experiences as Melinda. When she read it, she became inspired. I still read this book anytime I can.

Rating:
Summary: Subtle
Review: This book while being well written... leaves you in a dust to see what its really about. You get that she's having trouble in high school and that during the summer she got a bunch of her old friends in trouble. But you're not sure why exactly she seems to have such a terrible outlook on life. And then as you progress you start guessing to what really happened at that party. Its a very good book and i consider it a must. Its seductive and subtle and always interesting for the reader to finish it reading.

Rating:
Summary: Chicken Soup for the Cynical Teenage Soul...
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. In fact it got in the way of my homework... even up to this point at 10:30 PM in the middle of writing a DBQ (global essay) but instead writing this review.

It's about a girl, Melinda, who has a very tramatic experience and as the book goes on you see her suffer for it, hate it, struggle away from it and finally grow from it.

I personally loved it because it wasn't your typical teenage boo-hoo I'm so embarassed books-as fun as those are to read sometimes-it was a serious book with dark humor that appealed to me.

"Dark, but inspirational" would be the perfect phrase to describe it. I'd recommend this to anyone. It's also an added bonus if you're from the dismal upstate NY.

Rating:
Summary: Please buy it!
Review: It's the first day of high school, and Melinda has been ostracized since breaking up an end-of-summer keg party for the incoming class and upperclassmen. Not a single one of her friends ask her why she called the police that night, and they don't really care to find out. They leave her behind, and then she realizes that she can't speak. When she tries to, her lips become dry and gross. This novel is hilarious at times--the high school is in the middle of changing their team name because of the impending controversy of former and recommended names--and heartbreaking at times--when the truth comes out about the party. Rarely am I more impressed with a first novel than I was with this, and so this is why I give it an excellent score. It truly is an excellent novel. Other favorite books: Brave New Girl, Sloppy Firsts, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

Rating:
Summary: excellent, a must read
Review: Melinda started off her first year of high school at a bad start. After calling the cops at a summer party her life changed in many ways. Her best friends split up into differnt groups and abandon her. Students would call her names and not understanding what really happened that night. A good looking popular guy named Andy Evans, (a senior) raped her that night. Through her drawings in Mr.Freemens class and the support from him she begins to reach out to others. In the ending of the novel Andy Evans comes after her again. She shows him this time that she wont let him do the same thing he did before she speaks out and realizes that this is what she should of done from the start.
I felt that this book very good because it relates to many teenage girls in highschool and the different groups that they can grow into.

Rating:
Summary: A review by us
Review: Speak is an excellent book. Melinda is a freshmen loner who once had many friends, until that fateful night at the End-Of-Summer pool party. she was forced to call the cops and caused choas among the party goers. but no one really knew the real reason why she had to reach out to a higher authority. Because of that night she lost all her friends and hope. Through the course of this book she discovers parts of her inner self she never new existed. she realizes that she must do something that she has not done before; she is forced to SPEAK the truth.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: I think that this book was a very interesting book and I liked it very much. I thought that the events in this book were based on true life experiences. The events in this book show how hard it is to live as a teenager and not to make the same mistakes. I would have to say that this is the best book so far that I have read in a long time. I thought that this book was very good. I thought that some parts were not very understandable, but i still liked it.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: One of my top 5 favorite books of all time, everyone should read this. Written in a sort of surrealistic manner, Melinda's narrative conveys such real feeling you'd think it was actually her who wrote the book. Everything about the book, itself, though, is perfect.

Rating:
Summary: OK, a fun read
Review: 4 stars is not a bad rating. It was a good book, I liked it a lot when I read it, which was when I was only about 11. Even then, after having finished it, I didn't really walk away with anything, it wasn't one of those books that stayed in your mind and affected your life. While I felt for the character I couldn't help but think she was a little boring. Realistic, but boring. The plot line was thin too, a typical teen rape story. Not that that's bad, I think books like this should be out there for people to relate and sympathize with. Overall I would call this book, despite the glowing reviews, mediocre.

Rating:
Summary: Powerfully Written
Review: Speak was nothing less than extraordinary. Anderson wrote a powerful, compelling novel in a contemporary style. Her bold use of sequence and emotion that comes through Melinda give you a sense that you are standing right in front of her, watching the entire story play out. It is no wonder that the list is quite long for all of the awards and recognitions this book has received. I think it deserves 5 out of 5 stars, because I find very few faults in this book. There is no lack of description or character revelations.

Not only does Speak raise awareness of date rape victims, it sheds light on the social pressures of sex in high schools. The author highlighted specific points such as her losing her friends due to her standing up and calling the police that broke up the party in which she was raped by a guy three years her senior. Not only that, but the pressures of her home life with her parents not being there for her. Melinda becomes reclusive, her only outlet is painting.