Speak

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: The latest addition to my bookshelf is Speak, a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is 198 pages long and was written and published in 1999. This book is about a girl named Melinda whose first year of high school has a devastating effect from an event that happened towards the end of the summer. She had called the cops during the night of a wild party held by some seniors. No one ever found out what caused her to make the call. After the night of the party, Melinda keeps to herself and does not talk much at all. She starts her freshman year at Merryweather High School without any friends or people to talk to. Even her best friends have turned away from her. As the year progresses, Melinda's grades slip and her voice is completely gone. The only place where she can express herself is art class, where her understanding teacher helps her recover from the emotional shock. It isn't until near the end when the reader finds out why she called the cops in the first place. The secret that she had been hiding for a whole school year was that Andy Evans, a popular senior at Merryweather High, had raped her the night of the party and still taunts her about it. When her ex-best friend, Rachel, starts to go out with him, Melinda warns her about him and tells Rachel what happened (through a note), but she doesn't believe her and goes to the prom with Andy. The Monday after the prom, Melinda hears that Rachel had ditched Andy on the dance floor and told him about how she knew that he had raped her friend- she decided to believe Melinda after all. The same day, Andy Evans corners her in a closet and finally gets a sound out of Melinda when he tries to rape her again. The whole school finally hears about what really happened and she becomes a heroine during the last two days of her freshman year.

This was one of the best novels that I have read so far this year. Anderson did a fantastic job of writing it. She catches the reader's attention in the very first paragraph and keeps it until the last page. Since the events do not unfold all at once, the reader has to slowly find out about Melinda's past. Anderson describes each and every thing that goes through Melinda's mind clearly, She recreates the whole high school setting very vividly and extremely accurately by describing the exclusive cliques and how the students stereotype each other every day.

I would recommend this book to anyone in the eighth grade and up. It shows people what high school is really like in the real world instead of an almost-perfect one, which is what many teen novels are based upon. The cruel characters in the story remind us about some of the pains in our own lives so it is easy to place yourself in Melinda's shoes.

I think that everyone would be able to relate to Melinda because every teen, at some point, goes through a period where they keep their thoughts to themselves and do not confide in anybody. Melinda stays in this isolated condition throughout most of the book. Her refusal to open up to anybody is something the reader will never forget. Anderson teaches some very important lessons to readers through this novel, one of which is that it is okay to speak up about your past.

This book is one that will last in my memory and was definitely worthwhile to read. It made me want to cry and laugh at the same time. This well-written book is a must-read for every teenager and parent out there!

Rating:
Summary: Important aspects of Speak
Review: I was really surprised when I read Speak by Laurie Anderson. When I glanced at the organization of the book, I was dismayed. It wasn't in chapters; It had sections called "Halloween" and "Pruning." The book was also divided into four major parts called grading periods. I thought, "This is going to be stupid or interesting." Luckily, the latter describes it.
As I read the book, I realized the how important the organization was. Melinda, the main character, graded herself at the end of each grading period, except for the last one. This allowed the reader to see what Melinda thought of herself. It was also appropriate because the novel deals with a teenager-the main setting is a school.
Even more important than the organization is the symbolism. I love the symbolism of the tree. The tree is the object Melinda must work with in art class. As she completes her project, she sort of becomes the tree. Trees cannot live long with a dead limb and neither can she. She has grown and must free herself from a traumatic experience in the past. She does this by facing her attacker in the end (and truly saying "no").
What impressed me most about the book were the characterizations. The teachers were portrayed perfectly. In most schools, there may be a Mr. Neck, a teacher who doesn't want to listen if the opinions oppose his own. There may be an English teacher (Hairwoman) who dissects every piece of symbolism in a novel.
The characterization of Andy was great too. I realize there are boys like him, unfortunately. But the most impressive thing about the book is the voice of Melinda. She is humorous, sarcastic, but very depressed. Reading this book made me aware that many girls who are depressed may be going through similar situations.
This book contains humor, symbolism, but most importantly, real-life issues that young adults need to be aware about. Maybe by reading this, they will have empathy for the "outcast" and reach out to people who are depressed.
I rarely give a book five stars, but this was a book that really got my attention. I recommend it especially for teenagers.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: Girls if you haven't read thins book yet it is a must. This is one of my favorite books of all times. This book helped me through some hard times in my life and i'm truely greatful to the author for writing a great work like this.

Rating:
Summary: Emily's Speak Book Review
Review: Laurie Halse-Anderson's novel, Speak, is a riveting story about a teenage girl starting her high school days as an outcast. The main character, Melinda, had called the cops on the end-of-the-summer bash and everyone is busted. The reason for calling the cops is something Melinda keeps deep inside and does not reveal until the end. This novel shows Melinda as she struggles with many difficult aspects of high school and her home life. She has trouble speaking to people and expressing her true emotions. Though she's still very apprehensive, one person she starts to open up to is Mr. Freeman, her art teacher. He has taught her how to express her feelings through art and also told her he'd always be there to listen. Will Melinda finally open up to him or anyone, and find her voice? I enjoyed this novel because it was realistic and detailed. It is a book that brings forth a mixture of emotions. It will make you laugh, cry, and yell out in anger. I definitely recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Speak Review
Review: The novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is an interesting book about Melinda Sordino, a teenager trying to overcome the challenges she faces during her first year of high school. After facing a traumatic experience during the summer, she is now an outcast. All of her friends have found cliques and nobody wants to invite her to join theirs. Through her witty sarcasm and provoking thoughts, readers learn about her emotional scars and deep wounds that she bears inside. As the year progresses, Melinda works on opening up and facing her feelings through her artwork and other activities that she occupies her time with.
The book is a quick read and enjoyable for teenagers and adults.

Rating:
Summary: OK book
Review: The book Speak takes place in a school setting. It basically talks about the different types of groups there are in school like the cheerleaders, jocks, ect... When something happens, the characters life is suddenly changed forever.
I enjoyed this book because you can relate it to your own life. Everywhere you go you are always going to be faced with decisions to make. The thing I didn't like about it was this girl chooses not to talk over an incident that took place. It was very frustrating knowing that she wanted to hold this in, instead of tell someone. If I were this girl I would have talked a long time ago. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries. The book has a touching side to it that will allow you to figure out what is going on and why the character is acting the way she is.

Rating:
Summary: A must read!!! very realistic!
Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a fantastic book. I was sucked into it by the second page or so. Melinda is battling the truth about being raped inside her own head, and she's not talking much because no one at school will really talk to her except an annoying friend that only comes to her for help. Melinda is an outcast because she called the cops and "busted" an end of the summer party, and no one knows what really happened except her. The only way to express her feelings without making more problems is art, which is the only subject that she is not currently failing. Andy Evans, evening after hurting her at the party, still bugs her and plays with her mind at school. For Melinda, there seems no need to talk, until it was about to happen to her again. She has to choose to either speak, or not to. Laurie Anderson is letting people everywhere learn that its okay to speak about bad things that might have happened in the past. Anderson also is teaching us about rape, and letting us know that it can happen at anytime and that you can't always prevent it. I think that this is a great book and that people 12 and older should read it. I learned a lot from this book, and so can other people. It's a must read for females everywhere.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Speak is about a high school freshmen named Melinda who is desperately trying to blend in and ignore the severe emotional damage of being raped. All of Melinda's former friends have abandoned her and she must adjust to her first year of high school alone. Melinda's artwork is her only outlet because she has shut down all other parts of herself. Her grades are suffering, her hygiene is suffering and her health is suffering. As the book progressed, Melinda slowly allows herself to admit that she was raped and that she is terrified and angry. As she admits this to herself, Melinda begins to allow herself back into the real world.

This book is heart wrenching and funny at the same time. Melinda's sarcastic wit keeps you smiling through out. The book's climactic ending has the reader cheering through their tears. It is a definite read for anyone age 13 or older.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book, not as good Audiobook
Review: When Melinda calls the cops at an end of the summer party, she causes herself to become an outcast of her high school before she's even attended her first day. Taking place over the course of the school year, Melinda slowly begins to reveal what happened at the fateful party. This leads to a revelation that by design is anti-climatic as Melinda finally can begin to cope with her trauma. Anderson's prose accurately dissects the many inanities of high school, and gives us a protagonist who we like and root for, even when she doesn't like or root for herself. This is a serious book that provides no easy answers, just as one would hope, and leads to a satisfying, but hardly happy, ending.

Siegfried's narration displays the requisite malaise you would expect from Melinda's first person narration. While this reading is faithful to the book it can make for dreary listening at times and thus might be one to read instead of listen to.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book EVER
Review: Speak is the Best Book you could ever read. In speak the main character is Melinda and everyone hates her. She crashed an end of summer party by calling the cops, but no one knows why she called them. Also she is having inner problems with herself on what to do and what not to do and other stuff like that. The whole high school is against her which makes it even harder to get through freshman year.

I rate this book a 5 because it was really good. The way it was written on the page made it more fun to read by having paragraph breaks in a different kind of way. Also the whole plot of the story was cool. It was about something that I've never read before. The author puts you into the character fully and it's like you've known Melinda all her life.

A scene that was really heartbreaking was when a girl from Ohio, Heather, moves her and desides to be Melinda's friend. Then halfway through the year, Heather gives up on Melinda because "she was such a party-pooper". So now Melinda has no friends. Another scene is when Melinda and her ex-bestfriend are in study hall passing notes about the party. Melinda spills everything out but doesn't say who rapes her. Finally she passes a note saying it was Rachels boyfriend who hurt her and Rachel won't believe her.

To wrap things up, this was a 5 star book (ranked by me) because it really draws you into the story. This story would be perfect for anyone from the age of 13 to whenever. It is a really good book.