Speak

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Summary: Speak
Review: Being a teenage female, I was amazed at how accurate Anderson's portrail of high school life is in Speak. She seemed to catch every aspect of growing up along with a unique and touching twist. Great book.

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Summary: One of the best books in a long time.
Review: I couldn't put this book down. I loved it. you can feel what melinda is going through.You have to read this book!

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Summary: A powerful must read
Review: Several people told me to read this book and I finally got around to starting it one weekend afternoon. Well, I couldn't put it down. The language arts department at my school is considering making it a core reading requirement for our 7th graders. The voice that is given to the young woman in the novel is amazing and pulls the reader deep into the story. You can feel the pain and the isolation that many young people feel. It is also a powerful book for anyone who has experienced any sort of abuse in their lives.

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Summary: linoleum trees
Review: There are many books out there about rape and depression, but none so poignant as Speak. Anderson throws out tidbits of information as to why Melinda grows increasingly reclusive. The internal conflict she suffers makes one wonder how she locked it all inside without going utterly insane. Art keeps her afloat. Her tree project acts as an analogy; as the tree begins to take shape, she gradually becomes stronger. Shedding light on the perils of high school life, Speak shouts out to the shy and rejected to speak up and be heard. I loved this book.

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Summary: Speak: A must buy for teenagers
Review: Speak is the book your principal doesn't want you to read. It explains highschool completely and honestly. It shows real struggles for a teenage girl and how everything has a was of working itself out in the end. I suggest all teenagers to read this book. I love the strength of the main charactor and how she stands up for herself, even when no one else was around to help.

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Summary: A great book to 'speak' about
Review: Okay, the title's corny, but really I have a lot to say about this book, basically because of the issues covered in it. 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Anderson was a book I was interested in every since it was featured in the teen section of the amazon.com website. I'm always reluctant to buy books I'd never read before (which is a habit I have to get over if I want to ever read anything, but I'm getting off subject), so I got it out at the library. I've just gotten it out for like the fifth time, seriously. It's a book you gotta read a couple times, and not because you won't understand it, but because even when the book starts you feel so close to the protagonist because you know just what she's going through. I'm going to be a freshman in high school soon, and although I don't know much about high school except how to march in marching band, I know junior high is a lot like it. And reading about Melinda and her horrifying secret was a wonderful experience. I know how hard it is to keep a secret. You want and need to tell somebody, but you know if you do then things will go bad! That's just what's going on with Melinda. Melinda called the cops on one of the biggest parties ever, but she hasn't told anyone why. And now she has become the outcast and no one will talk to her and she has begun to cease to speak, hence the title. This story is really a wonderful one to read. Though it seems at the beginning that our hero Melinda is a weak person, you realize that really she is one of the strongest in the book. And it teaches you alot about life. Really a must read for anyone whose going through high school or maybe hasn't gotten there yet! It's truly an eye opener!

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Summary: Please read this one
Review: Whether you are 12 or 112, or any age in between you will be stunned by the power of the writing in this book. I highly recommend this as a choice for reading groups, especially if you have a Mother/Daughter group with teenage girls. This novel offers so many opportunities for discussion.

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Summary: Speak
Review: Melinda blew the whistle but she didn't blow it all the way. All she did was break the party up. Now everyone hates her and she's failing school. Now all she needs to do is tell everyone what really happened at the party. In the story Melinda knows what happened to her was wrong. She just doesn't now what to do next, no one seems to be there for her. I believe this is a very good book for young adults who like to see a happy ending to a sad story.

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Summary: One of the Best
Review: "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson is a book about an issue that is hardley mentioned but she broke the silence. This book kept you flipping the pages and literally pulled you into Melinda's situation. If you want to read a good book, read this.

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Summary: Entertaining Novel
Review: How does a traumatic experience change a young girls life? Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a realistic and truthful novel that shows how a once "normal" happy teenager is forever changed after a wild party. Melinda's world is turned completely upside down after she calls the cops while at a wild party. She is left speechless after she gives the operator the address, she is unable to tell them why she is really calling. All of her friends ditch her because they are mad at her for reporting the wild party. None of them take the time to ask why she called the cops, none of them take the time to find out the truth. Speak shows Melinda's struggle to over come the incident, and it describes the trauma she suffers. It takes Melinda a long time to recover from the memories of that horrid night because she has no one to talk to about what happened. Things finally begin to turn around when Melinda finds the courage to confront what happened and tell the truth to her old best friend. I really enjoyed this novel. It is definitely targeted at my age group, teenage girls. It was a very quick read and had a good flow. There was one thing that took me a while to get used to and that was instead of writing she said or he said after dialog, Laurie Anderson put a name, colon, and then what the person said, like a script. It was hard to read smoothly at the beginning, but towards the end I understood why she wrote it that way. This book taught a lot of lessons and made me grateful for what I have in life. It was overall a very good and entertaining read.