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Summary: Speak
Review: The book Speak was an interesting but sometimes boring story of a girl in the ninth grade at Merryweather High School. I thought that some parts of it actually pertained to real life in High School but other things weren't quite accurate in my perspective. She goes through life with an attitude where she has problems but makes no effort to fix them. She is always depressed and she thinks there is nothing she can do to make her life less stressful and more enjoyable. It was a well-written book but I just didn't have interest in reading about these things.
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Summary: Speak review
Review: Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
Reviewed by: Alex Rohr Laurie Halse Anderson's book Speak is not a very good book. I would not recommend it to anyone who doesn't like to read female driven novels. This book was not at all geared towards guys and therefore hard for me to relate too. The story is about a girl who is an outcast from the very start of her freshman year at high school. She is an outcast as result of something that occurred during the summer right before school started. It is a relatively accurate view of teenage life but it was not the kind of book I enjoy. She is a very unhappy girl who speaks very little. This was depressing because Melinda, the main character, was always sad and alone. If she had sought help for her problem, her life would have been a lot easier.
Rating: 
Summary: Speak
Review: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a well-written novel about a teenager's dark, depressed freshman year in high school as an outcast. After a bad ending to an end of summer party, Melinda Sordino is forced to enter high school with all of her friends hating her. She has no one to talk to and express what really happened to her. Throughout the book, with the help of her sarcasm and mockery of life at high school, we see her opinion of her peers and the people around her as she slowly reveals to us the trauma that has deeply wounded her adolescence.
This is an easy book to read, but it is very enjoyable. Laurie Halse Anderson's use of humor and trauma through the eyes of Melinda kept me wanting to read. I recommend this book for both teenagers and adults.
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Summary: Speak
Review: Laurie Halse Anderson's novel, Speak, has intrigued the minds of many students across the nation. The book has only been out for a year or two and already, schools are adopting it as a class read. This acceptance is due to an easy-to-read layout, and the identification from students to the main character, Melinda. Throughout the story, we follow Mel as she is struggling with her circumstances as a freshman in high school. As the reader becomes more connected to the narrator, she starts to tell us more and more of what happened that summer (when she was happy and had good friends) that turned her into a social outcast. Although the book has a depressing nature, Melinda's sarcasm may even bring about a laugh from the reader. Speak is a well-written novel which is good for most anyone high school and up to read due to the mature environment. I would suggest this book to anyone who has had struggles at any point in life, and especially one who has had struggles in high school.
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Summary: Speak
Review: For Melinda Sordino the school year is not off to the most wonderful start. All of her former friends hate her because of an event that happened over the summer. She begins her freshman year of high school completely alone. The emotional wounds of the summer have left her unable to express herself; she is emotionally dead. As the school year goes on she becomes more and more silent, unable to open up about what happened over the summer. When "IT" approaches her in the hallways, she can't handle her fears and emotions. Melinda's only refuge is art class, where she is free to be herself and is learning to express her emotions through art. As Melinda's artwork grows, so does her need to tell someone what happened to her. When she finally finishes her project, she is ready to speak. Author Laurie Halse Anderson's excellent use of imagery and sarcasm really draw the reader into Melinda's world. The high school created by Anderson is a true stereotype of high schools all across America; there are different cliques: the jocks, the thespians, the Goths, the suffering artists, etc. Speak is an easy read that gives the imagination a workout. The characters seem so real; the entire novel seems as if it could have been taken out of a real teen's diary.
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Summary: too depressing
Review: The book, Speak, I thought was comical but yet a little on the depressing side. Melinda Sordino, the main character, is going through a small slump of social status in her life. Mel almost goes her entire freshmen school year with out ever really speaking or making conversation because of an incident prior to the school year. Her views of the people and her are interesting and mostly funny. The stagnant plot failed to arouse my interest. The story seemed to drag out the little things and until the very end no plot is evident. The book was alright for a simple story about a girl. It's realistic, but in all I didn't fully enjoy reading this book.
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Summary: Speak
Review: New to high school, Melinda Sordino finds her friends have disowned her, and classes are much more difficult than she expected. Armed with a sarcastic and even sometimes sardonic attitude, she sets out to make the best of things. Unfortunately, her friends' relentless silent treatment and her less-than-adept teachers cause her plans to fall through.
Faced with no one to talk to and her far below adequate grades, Melinda does the only thing she can think of: not talk. But instead of simplifying things, her troubles only seem to multiply with her newfound silence. Anyone who's ever felt left out will enjoy this story. I found Melinda wry and easy to relate to, and her stereotypical high school seemed a facsimile of mine. Speak is a must read for any high school student, or even anyone who's ever been to high school. Laurie Halse Anderson does a wonderful job bringing that sad, sarcastic little person who lives inside us all to life.
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Summary: She could never speak the truth...
Review: SPEAK
by Laurie Anderson Melinda Sordino is lost, alone and confused. She no longer has friends and people she didn't know hate her anyway... and that was just the first day of school! Since last Augest, when Melinda broke up an end-of-summer party by calling the police, she has become the leper of her school. The only time anyone talked to her was when they made fun of her, but no one knew. Nobody in her school knew the truth, her parents didn't want to see the truth and Melinda could not speak the truth. All she wanted to do was get away from the torment by shutting everything out and crawling deep inside her mind. But IT was there too, waiting for her. This book is a must-read for every high school newcomer. Reading it in my sophomore year, I found I could not put it down. Andersons description of high school life was one of the most realistic scenarios I have ever read. Melinda Sordino's personality will connect with, and touch, everyone who has ever experienced being an outsider. This book will scare you, make you laugh, cry, and give you courage.
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Summary: Speak
Review: Laurie Halse Anderson's novel Speak is a touching story about a teenage outcast's struggle to speak. Melinda's first year at Merryweather High is a lonely one with no friends and no escape. Her sarcasm and wit conceal the deep secret she holds inside and serve as a comic relief. She is isolated by her classmates, and she becomes quieter every day. Her parents try to get her to talk to them, but her secret stifles her. Only Melinda and a senior, Andy Evans, know the haunting secret she holds inside. She has no one to turn to so she expresses her feelings through her artwork in her art class with Mr. Freeman. In the end Melinda inspires the reader when she overcomes her battle by shattering the silence. This novel is filled with an explosion of emotions and will leave you speechless. I enjoyed this novel thoroughly, and I certainly recommend it to anyone.
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Summary: Speak
Review: The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is great. It is a novel about a teenage girl named Melinda who has several problems. She is a freshman at a high school, and she is an outcast. She is very lonely and unhappy. Her friends no longer speak to her, because over the summer Melinda calls the police when she is at a party. She called the police for a reason, but she does not get to explain herself right away. Since everyone is angry with her, she does not start her first high school year off right. She struggles throughout the whole year. She is so depressed that she does not want to speak. I liked this book because it was very powerful, realistic, and humorous. I am not a very strong reader, but this book was very easy to read and understand. I think Laurie Anderson did an amazing job expressing Melinda's feelings and thoughts.
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