Speak

Rating:
Summary: I'll SPEAK highly of this one!
Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a phenomenal book! She writes beautifully, casting an image in your mind. This book is fantastic as well as it is slightly dark and witty. I wouln't reccomend it to kids under the age of 13 as it deals with some mature issues but anyone 13+ will love it! I definetly reccomed it! You'll love Speak.

Rating:
Summary: The courage to ... grow.
Review: If you have just a few days to read a book, this is the book for you. If you rail against the cynicism of high school, of cliques, of violence, of self-deprecation, this is the book for you. I was enthralled by Melinda and her inability to speak. That inability is both physical, verbal, and symbolic. For a young-adult novel symbolism is sown with practically every word here (planting pun intended). The author's handle of high school and the unfairness and weirdness that occurs there every day is concrete, extremely accurate. I kept rooting for Melinda, feeling her pain and the difficulty she would have if she just spoke, but all the while encouraging her to just speak so that her pain...no, it wouldn't be completely gone of course, but at least it would move to a more manageable size. Written in a kind of multi-genre style the book is divided into four grading periods. The uniqueness of the way Melinda's story is told will definitely satisfy those who have been craving a different book.

Rating:
Summary: A great story
Review: This book sends a very powerful message to young women. It sends the message to stand up for yourself. As you can figure out during the book, Melinda is raped the summer before her freshman year in high school. The problem is that the rest of the school has no idea. They think she called the cops to bust a party. Due to this, Melinda has no friends and she starts to lose herself a little. Melinda is lucky to find a love for art. Art gives her a way to express herself and form a relationship with her teacher. Her teacher believes in her and soon Melinda believes in herself. She starts to regain past friendships and before you know it, she is in a situation to get raped again. This time she stands up to IT and stops him. Melinda is then seen as a hero to the rest of the girls in the school. This book shows that sometimes you just don't fit in. And when you don't, you can't give up. You need to find your identity. If you do the right things, and stand up for what you are believe in, you are eventually going to find friends who are just like you. This book lets girls know that it is right to say no and it is right to stand up for yourself. It also shows all high school kids that things will get down for you at some point, but if you keep your head high and keep going, you will eventually find everything working itself out.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic and Engaging
Review: I was immediately drawn into Melinda's world. The reactions were normal. Melinda is struggling with coming to terms with what happened to her. She shuts down. It's no wonder her friends don't believe her because the truth is that awful and it doesn't benefit her former bff when she is dating the guy who attacked Melinda does it? People just want to fit in and many teens can go unnoticed in a big school. Sometimes it's easier to blend into the background even if that hurts. 'Speak' was much more engrossing then most of the other teen novels I've read. I highly reccommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: A Good book for TEEN readers and Adults
Review: All Teens should read this book. Peer pressure does a lot of bad things, one of those things is convincing victims to feel like they have done something wrong.

Speak is a fast-paced read that involves the reader emotionally from the very start. Speak is an accurate portrayal of the very common existence of high school cruelty and peer pressure. Every reader should identify with most of what happens in this novel, no matter what their age.

You will get mad at the good characters as well as the bad. I found myself talking out loud to the characters, which is why I know the book involves you.

Speak passes my Young Adult novel test. The book allows you to read without wanting to put it down, and it flows straight to ending. Laurie Halse Anderson has written a book that will be around for a very long time.

Rating:
Summary: Must be a good book!
Review: I did not read this book, my 14 year old daughter did. And it's very difficult to get her to read anything longer than a magazine article. She loved reading it, would actually turn off the TV to read. Now she wants to read more books by this author.
I have tried and tried to get her interested in reading for pleasure. This book sure kick started her! Hoooray!!!

Rating:
Summary: Coming of Age
Review: This book is great for all teenager girls, it's a definate coming of age story that all girls should read. I learned a lot from this book and highly recomend it to girls age 13 or over.

Rating:
Summary: Very good book!
Review: You wonder what happened, and you sort of already know...Just a tiny hint in the book along the way by the characters actions, but it keeps you reading. The art teacher is a great person...the book really makes you know what to do, lets you know that it can happen to anyone, and that sometimes life will hit you on the head sometimes, but after a while it will heal and you can get over it. A great read!

Rating:
Summary: love this book!
Review: I really liked this. I thought it was witty and real, and it has entertained me on many a day. It is a fairly realistic depiction of teenage life and I like the way that it is written.

Rating:
Summary: Don't ever forget to Speak
Review: I was a little skeptical when I picked this book up from the library, but I gave it a shot and am glad I did. Speak is about a girl who is shunned during the summer before her freshmen year for calling the cops at a party. Her friends have left her in the world inside her head. No one but her and The Beast know what really happened that night. She slowly finds her voice again when one of her ex friends begins to date The Beast. Speaking up on the walls of the bathroom stall eventually brings out the words of other Beast victims. This is a great book about SPEAKing up when you need to be heard.