Speak

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: Speak

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

"The basketball pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can't read lips."(Page-8)

As a young adult, Melinda has to go through a lot of tests to make her a better and stronger person. Because of a traumatic event, she becomes speechless and shuts herself off from the world. Melinda eventually makes it through a tough year and tells her story.
When Melinda is going through all of this trouble, the reader really feels for her and wishes there were ways to help her. Readers suspect a very serious crime has been committed. Is Melinda going to speak? The ending of the book may be a surprise.
I really enjoyed this book. It was something that I could get into and relate to real life instances. When Melinda says that she can't talk to anyone about her problems, I related to her, since I have felt that way many times. The reader wants to talk to Melinda about her situation.
Laurie Halse Anderson, a writer from Syracuse, New York, began writing as a young child. She would sit at her typewriter and type newspaper columns, stories, and letters. She loved words and her favorite book was the dictionary. She has written several children's stories. Speak, Anderson's first novel for young adults, won the Michael Printz Award. Hopefully, many more books will follow.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: SPEAK
Laurie Halse Anderson

"I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aubrey Cheerleader. IT is my nightmare and I can't wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'll throw up."
Melinda Sordino just busted an end-of -school party when she called the cops. All of her friends were at that party and now hate her. Melinda goes through her 9th grade school year not telling anyone what actually happened at that party. One day when she is confronted by IT, Andy Evans, in a closet this time will Melinda be able to speak the truth?
Reading this book for the second time, I fell back into the problems that Melinda went through. This was a wonderful book written from Melinda's point of view. The reader follows Melinda's problems through high school. This book, on the other hand, was a little slow moving. When she was trying to figure her life out.
This is a book that I would give to kids that are going into high school and want to learn about the struggles that typical teens face. I would recommend this book to girls, because they can relate to Melinda's encounters with clicks, boys and even her parents.
The author, Laurie Halse Anderson read many books; one of her favorites was Heidi. Laurie Anderson fell in love with writing when her second-grade teacher taught her how to write haikus. This is strange but her favorite book is the dictionary. The reader can see first hand that Anderson's love of words in her detailed descriptions in Speak.

Rating:
Summary: SPEAK
Review: Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
I open a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this? A whimper a peep?"

Melinda is entering her first year of high school with no friends. Earlier in the summer, she had called 911 at a party. Something had happened that would change her life forever and no one would listen to her. Everyone just ignored her and made fun of her because she was a wimp. Slowly, Melinda withdraws into her own world and stops speaking.
Throughout the book, Melinda hints at what happened at the party, and she is trying to speak. The reader has to discover the truth just like Melinda's friends. This is a realistic book about high school clicks and the peer pressure put on teenagers.
If you like books about teenagers and how their life works, this book would be great. This book could shows teenagers not to be afraid to speak out and tell someone about their problems.
Laurie Halse Anderson attended Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York, then transferred to Georgetown University where she earned a bachelor's degree in Languages in Linguistics. The only book written by Laurie is Speak, for which she won the Michael Printz award.

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Summary: My all time favorite book in the WHOLE ENITRE WORLD!
Review: This is one of my favorite books. Melinda is one of my fav characters ever. Her witty sarcasm and additude is halarious and so deep. This is 1 of those books that every teenager needs to read. It opened my eyes to notice someone who doesn't talk alot and to come to them with open arms and not to be a victim of rumors and judgments.

~Sarah

Rating:
Summary: Amazing book
Review: This book is just great. I love to read it over and over all the time. Laurie Halse Anderson is a wonderful writer with alot of in depth detail about what Malinda has to go through and it's just a book you cant stop reading and put down. You get so into the characters thoughts you feel her pain and feel what she goes through everyday. I know what it's like to be an outcast in a school full of people who dont know what you've been through, especially if your holding in a dark secret.

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Summary: Amazing
Review: This teenage girl experience a great deal of pain during her prime teenage years. Being a 13 year old myself i can understand not being able to express your feelings after a harsh experience like rape. This book really shows an outcaster and their story.

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Summary: oh :D My love!
Review: This is an amazing book. I have read it over and over again. "Speak" gets inside your head, and stays there. This book describes so many little things that are eating her alive, and I want to never forget her pain. I wish I had a school closet to retreat into like her.

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Summary: BEST BOOK
Review: An amazing book about a girl who really needs mental help. This book will touch anyone who will read it.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: This book is one of my absolute favorite books. It has a serious background, but the tone is funny. It has a lot to chew on and think about, and a lot that causes you to look at your own life in a different way. I highly recommend it for every teenage girl.

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Summary: My thoughts on the book Speak
Review: Melinda Sordino is a freshman at Marryweather High. She has no friends, and everyone hates her. Why? She busted a party by calling the cops the summer before her 9th grade year, not to break it up, but to report a rape, a rape that she was never able to tell them about. She was the victim of this unthinkable act and was hurt more than she knew right then.
As the year goes on, Melinda comes to think that saying nothing at all will dull the pain, but she can't get the awful memory out of her head.
"It's getting hard to talk. My throat is always sore, and my lips raw. Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter and freeze up. What's wrong with me? It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis."
The only way is seems for Melinda to get her feelings out is in art class where her teacher reaches out with a helping hand to her.
Finally Melinda starts to realize that she needs to say something about what happened when her ex-best friend, Rachel, starts dating Melinda's rapist. She tries talking to her trough notes and when that doesn't work, she then talks to her in person. When Rachel finds out the truth she confronts Andy, and in the end, breaks it off with him.
Now Melinda has another problem, Andy is mad at her for telling the truth and accuses her of spreading false rumors. He attacks her again but this time Melinda finds the strength to stand up to him and show him that she is a stronger person than he thinks.
I think this book is a good way to be educated about rape and how it can affect peoples' lives. This book really teaches you to speak out about your problems, weather it be rape or not, but to tell someone because it will end up hurting you worse and for a longer time if you don't.
Ruth B.