Speak

Rating:
Summary: Best YA Book I've Ever Read
Review: Speak is one of the very few teen novels that have not at any point made me a)gag b)lose all faith in human nature or c) stop reading in disgust. It's perhaps the only YA book I've ever read that manages to merge a wonderful, likable yet very obviously flawed heroine (along with a superbly developed set of supporting characters), lots of wry, frequently hilarious social observation (without ever descending into slapstick) and a very dangerous yet eventually touching topic that within the hands of a lesser author might have turned the book into a preachy girlpower-infused lecture. Instead, it distinguishes itself as one of the best books around right now for teens.

Speak opens very predictably like almost every other title with a similar topic. Girl waits for bus. Girl has deep, dark, delicious secret. No one wants to talk to girl. Girl will now go boo-hoo. Let's all feel sorry for girl and want to give her a big, bear hug. Or not. I'm not even sure how Speak manages to be so colossally different in quality from the other kajillion teen novels around. Maybe it's Melinda, the "girl" who manages to drag the novel out of boring mush mode. She's tough--but in extremely subtle ways and also heartbreakingly vulnerable. When one of the girls from the perky, cheerful clique she hangs out with says she "looks like she has a disease", she goes to cry in the girls' bathroom. A different author would turn this particular episode into a big, deep sympathyfest with lots of ridiculous metaphors and philosophizing. Laurie Halse Anderson however let's the reader do the thinking, the piecing and yes, the philosophizing. Maybe this is one of the things which sets Speak apart from its histrionic, fluff-filled contemporaries.

But characters and writing aside, Speak's greatest strength is that it manages to successfully get inside the teenage mind without having to resort to condescension and downtalking. Anderson uses few words but the picture she paints of Melinda's high school: a picture that totally lacks any or illusions or nostalgia is brutal, haunting and brilliant. While Anderson isn't a wonderful sensory writer (her strength is character development), it's impossible to read Speak and not become mired in its setting: cafeteria smells, cheerleaders, cliques, classes. Anderson writes with a vivid clarity that makes Speak truly one-of-a-kind.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: I would recommend Speak for 7th grade and up. This amazing novel talks about the troubles of a freshman that at the end of a summer party called the police, and now none of her friends will talk to her. High school should be one of the greatest times of her life, but the only thing she enjoys is art class. Then end of the school year is coming and still she won't speak or tell the truth. Once again her grades start to fall and soon she begins to tell people what really happened that night. I think this book is a wonderful lesson to human life in that when ever something goes wrong nothing can be more valuable than speech. Also this is a tender, loving story that tells you about the struggles of a teenage outcast.

Rating:
Summary: Sad but true to life about the world of High School
Review: "Speak" is an amazing book. The main character rarely has any dialogue, but we are so inside her head that it is like she is talking to us. The reason that she does not speak and is ridiculed in her high school is something that we learn over time, as Melinda begins to understand what happened to her that night that she called the cops at her first high school party...

The chapters are short (if they could be called chapters) and quick to read. The book is divided into marking periods, so it's easy to see how Melinda progresses through the year. Because everything that we know is reported to us by Melinda, it's possible that she exaggerates and embellishes a bit. My favorite part is when she tells us what is going on in her classes and the assignments.

This is a great book with a good message about the importance of speaking up when something is wrong. Excellent book - for ages 13 and up - 5/5

Rating:
Summary: Lala's Review!
Review: I really enjoyed reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I thought that it had a really good story, like it's very believeable. I really liked the book because she describes the characters so well and i can relate to the kids at school and how they're treating her. It really depicts how children are when they're at school and what they go through. Plus it had a lot of humor like how the main character, (Melinda) describes the teachers and the kids at school. I think that in all it was a good book & something a teenager would really enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: uncannily truthful
Review: Speak was the very first book I had read from author Louise Halse Anderson, and as soon as I had placed the book down, I immediately had to read the rest of her work. She is the type of writer whom is able to address and exploit that which such books as 'Letters from the Inside,' by John Marsden, had failed to recognise and to draw one into its depths, into its pure individuality and emotional and psychological pain, trying to come to terms with the narrator was dealing with.

Melinda is starting year nine with internal scars, scars she did not have until one unforgettable night, one which pushed the young, innocent adolescent off the road of sanity, and into the path of self destruction.
Now, unlike many characters of such books that deal with these kinds of emotional and psychological problems, whom have people to turn to and to confine in, Melinda, the narrator and main character, has no one to turn to. Her friends have deserted her, the entire school has shunned her, and her parents are too caught up in their own selfish, conceited lives to realize she's hurting inside. Melinda, unable to let herself out through socializing and talking to someone, is able to express her pain through her art, but it isn't enough, she needs someone to talk to, someone to love her and to listen to her.
She goes through almost an entire school year of social torture and neglect, when she finally finds the courage to face her fears and defeat the monster that is hiding under the bed, to stand up for herself and to finally and truly 'speak.'

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but definently not great.
Review: Everyone seems to love this book! I didn't think it was all that great. It was sort of painful to read all the way through, and some of the text was a little dorky. Actually, most of the sarcasm was funny, but all of the negitivity brought you down. She didn't even talk about what was haunting the charactor until the las few chapters. The text is a little too cheasy for older kids, and it is a little too... adult for younger kids. The story is a good one, but I don't like the way the author presented it, although I admit I enjoyed it at the end. Maybe the author should retell the story. (Sorry how it says that I am a 1-year old. I went to the wrong reveiw thing and it didn't have the right age.)

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: Speak, by Laurie Anderson, is about a ninth grade girl, Melinda Sordino, who knows something that nobody else knows. Melinda was very popular and then after one night she became an outcast. Everyone is mad at her because she called the cops at a party last year, but Melinda is the only person who knows what really happened. The story takes place on the first day of ninth grade. Melinda doesn't talk to anyone and she has no friends because of what IT did to her. Melinda needs to tell somebody what really happened before she goes insane...Will she tell someone??? Will they believe her??? Read Speak by Laurie Anderson to find out!
Speak is a great book! My eyes were glued to it until I finished it. It was interesting and I couldn't wait to read what was going to happen next. It kept me really suspicious in the beginning. There is nothing bad about Speak, but it made me mad that Melinda didn't talk. Speak is a good book for females age 11 and up. I highly recommend all females read Speak by Laurie Anderson.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a freshman girl who called the police during a party. Everyone one at school hates her because she ruined the party. But there is secret that happened at the party that no one knows. As you read more and more, you notice the setting takes place at a school.The characters in the story are like teens today....they gossip, betray friends....etc. I think the authors message is to always spek up when you need to.
What I really enjoyed about the book was how it relates to life today. Many things are similar with your peers, friends, and teachers. Many teens like us have problems as a student and friend. In the book it shows you how friends can be like. they might want to be your friend or they might want to use you. I dont have a least favorite part of this book. I really enjoyed reading it.
What I did'nt understand was about the drawing if the tree. In one of the characters classes she had to draw a tree and I don't get what that has to do with the story.
In my opinion, I think young teens like would enjoy reading this book. Especially girls because are the ones who have the most troble with peers and friends. I also think young teens who dont like to read would enjoy this book as much as I did because you can learn from it. To speak up, to choose the right friends, and to be confident in yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Am I the only person not crazy about this book?!?!
Review: A painful read to get through. Negativity all over the place and only brief parts were actually interesting. I'll admit that some of the sarcasm was great, but as far as loving the main character, it did not go my way.

Rating:
Summary: Not That Good
Review: Speak was written through the eyes of a ninths grader, Melinda Sordino. She had no friends, and there was no way she would talk to her parents. Melinda spent her days feeling sorry for herself and could talk to no one. Her "best friend" didn't want to see her. No one could stand her. Everybody talked about her, and she knew it too. Laurie Halse Anderson, the author, tries to keep the reader wondering why this poor girl is going through so much.
Melinda started her freshmen year hated by everyone. She had called the cops on a party she had attended with people from her school. She had lost all of her friends that night the incident happened. Melinda began hanging out with a new girl, Heather. Heather didn't have anyone else to sit with, so she became Melinda's friend. They both hang out for a while but Heather realizes that she wants to be in the "in" crowd and she stops talking to Melinda. Melinda takes out her frustration in drawing. Her drawing teacher has helped her out a lot, even though he doesn't know what's going on with her. Her parents are frustrated because she won't talk to them, but on the other hand they don't show that they care.
Finally, Melinda tries talking to her "best friend", Rachel. Melinda wants to warn Rachel about her new boyfriend. She finally lets it out and tells Rachel what happened that night at the party. She tells her that Andy Evans, Rachel's boyfriend, raped her the night of the party and that was the reason she had called the cops. Rachel didn't believe it at first but she soon found out that it was true. Rachel asked Melinda for forgiveness, and Melinda felt a lot better.
This book wasn't that great. The story is good, but I didn't like the way the author tells the story. Laurie Halse Anderson talks a lot about how lonely and how everyone hates Melinda, but she won't reveal anything at all. It's good that it keeps you wondering what happened to Melinda, but I think that Anderson over did it. Half way down the book I was getting frustrated because she wouldn't mention anything at all about the incident. She just talked about Melinda's days in school. In the last, maybe, twenty pages Anderson reveals what had happened that night. For me, the most interesting parts of the book were towards the end, but I didn't like it as much. I didn't think it was as good as people had said it was.