Speak

Rating:
Summary: My heart went out...
Review: to this girl because I know that so many young girls today are having to deal with so many kinds of pressures that I didn't have to when I was growing up. The book made me sad but intrigued me at the same time. The character feels like she is invisible to everyone at her home, her school, her parents. She's got so much to say, but the words can't come out because she is scared..scared of what people will think of her, scared that her parents will find out an awful secret that she has been keeping for a long time and that nobody will believe her.
She gets the courage to express her emotions and finally...speak.

Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: Finally a book that doesn't turn high school into a sappy love triangle! Speak is a rare find, in the sense that it's the story of a girl with real problems. Although there are no real big surprises, this book is defintely one that many can relate to.

Rating:
Summary: buy it....just do
Review: this book was fascinating. it is a unique writing style, and conveys melinda's pain and frustration. unlike anderson's historical novels, this one is gripping and heart wrenching. it goes deep down into the life that might as well be death of a traumatized teen. it takes the reader places they didnt know (or remember) existed. it is so easy to relate to with so many different levels present. even complete anti-readers will be intrigued with the openly "question authority" attitude. probably my favorite book right up with 'dancing on the edge' and 'go ask alice'

Rating:
Summary: ?
Review: I don't know what all this fuss is about. I read this book a while ago, and it's not that I didn't like it, but I didn't love it either. The language is kind of boring, it's not a 'read it in a day or else' book, you are not curious about the end or the twists that might happen... and so on. It's about a girl who goes through a frightening experience and loses her self confidence. I'm not saying I don't feel symphathy; it's just that there are many books out there that are worth reading and worth 5 stars other than this one. Don't waste this time unless you have no books to read other than this one. Or you LOOOVE stories with troubled teens. In that case, I would recommend Robert Cormier; not this one.

Rating:
Summary: I read "Speak" for a Summer Reading book
Review: Although the reader never actually finds out, it seems as though Melinda's next year of high school will turn out to be a lot more enjoyable than her freshman year.

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!!
Review: EXCELLENT!!EXCELLENT!!EXCELLENT!!EXCELLENT!!EXCELLENT!! I love the book. It is my favorite book. Being 14 and this is my first year of High School, I liked it a lot. I know what it would be like to have no friends, its sad. Melinda is a cool person, Anderson did an excellent job on telling the reader about the thoughts that go on inside Melinda's head.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning.
Review: This was a powerful book, along the lines of Sights by susanna Vance, although there wasn't the story and humor to soften its theme. Maybe that was impossible, considering...

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: Melinda is a freshman in high schol, but immediately starts off terribly.

The world only knows that she called the cops at a party, and they resent her for that. What they don't know is the truth.

She is hiding from something, and never wants to return back to that thought. Never able to tell the world. No one knows. No one must know.

Friendless, and assigned to draw a tree for Art, Melinda gets through her first year of high school. It may just be the toughest.

Laurie Halse Anderson truly captures the correct feelings and expresses her thoughts very well. She is a very talented author.

Rating:
Summary: a leap of courage
Review: 10 lies they tell you in high school:

1. You will use algebra in your adult lives.
2. Driving to school is a privilege that can be taken away.
3. Students must stay on campus for lunch.
4. The new textbooks will arrive any day now.
5. Colleges care about more than your SAT scores.
6. We are enforcing the dress code.
7. Our bus drivers are highly trained professionals.
8. We will figure out how to turn the heat off soon.
9. There is nothing wrong with summer school.

10. We want to hear what you have to say.

Even if it was truth no one would listen to Melinda Sordino, not even herself. Truth is not what she wants to confront right now. Truth would make it real, not just a reoccurring nightmare. Truth would mean she can't escape, can't forget. But confronting the truth would help Melinda find her voice. After she is raped by Andy Evans, an upperclassman at her high school, and calls the cops, breaking up the entire party, she is shunned by her school, and enters her freshman year an a clanless outcast. Her best friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. Since no one listens, what is there to say? When Melinda's ex-best friend Rachel starts seriously dating Andy "beast" Evans, she feels she has to intervene, and tells Rachel the truth. Rachel refuses to accept the fact, and doesn't believe her. Later, she realizes Melinda was telling the truth and dumps Andy, making him a laughing stock and an outcast. Andy gets mad and threatens Melinda. When her frightening second encounter with Andy ends in victory, Melinda finally has the courage to say what really happened, thus finding herself, and her powerful voice.

I loved this book! I liked it so much I think because it was very easy to relate to the main character's descriptions of high school, cliques, and the harshness of peer pressure. I really like the way the author got into Melinda's head. You really finished the book wanting more, and wondering still about Melinda's thoughts.

I would recommend this book to at least thirteen year olds, and girls would like it better than boys. Some of the material is complex for younger kids, and does deal with depression, and has (mild) sexual content. If you feel that you are mature enough to appreciate this book, I certainly recommend it to you. It really was one of my top favorites.

Rating:
Summary: Yummy and real
Review: This is the best young adult book I have ever read. Anderson's style of writing draws you in and sounds like the way I wish I thouht. It's darkly funny (my favorite kind of humor) and it seemed real. It's about a girl Mel, who calls the cops during a party. All her classmates are mad at her and alienate her. Her observations about people are wonderfuly funny. Just the way feel! Please don't lump this in the catagory of typical teenage books. This is much, much better. It deserves more than just a write-off.