Speak

Rating:
Summary: A Little Let Down
Review: This book is about a young girl who's an outcast and seems to be hated by everyone, but you don't why. It goes through her first year in high school, and shows how helpless this young girl feels and how she overcomes her problem and speaks about it.

I read this book because all of my friends' and teachers said it was sooooo good. The opening did immediately get my attention. Then I was a little let down after that, it got harder and harder to focus on the book and continue reading. I suggest to anyone interested in this book to give it a chance because, of the good story line and great ending, but it went along slowly (not for impatient people).

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book of all time
Review: This is my favorite book of all time. I've read it 6 times and it still rocks.

I can totally picture myself as Melinda Sordino. I can imagine everything she's going through, and all of her pain. People said this book was unrealistic? Unrealistic was Annie's Baby! This book is one of the most realistic teen books I have read in a long time.

Clearly the people that didn't like it must not have understood it very well. Adjectives are used very well, and everything is so descriptive. Each character I could picture as one of my friends.

Please, please buy this book, and if you don't like it, give it to somebody else as a birthday gift, because this is one book you SHOULDN'T leave somewhere at the back of your bookshelf. This one deserves to be read.

Rating:
Summary: Speak - Valley High School
Review: Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
"I rake the leaves out of my throat."
Imagine a day in the life of a ninth grade outcast. This is a book that leads us through the miserable life of such a 9th grade outcast. Melinda Sordino made it very clear to others that the cops coming to the party was all her fault, so her friends desert her. Will she ever be able to speak the truth?
This is a very good book, because of the way Anderson words the paragraphs and how she describes things in detail. The quote from above is an example of a metaphoric phrase that the author uses throughout the book. The reader can share Melinda's pain and hear her voice. Melinda tells about the every day life of a teenager, which is sometimes humorous.
Melinda is into art. Readers who like art as well as dramatic stories should take another look at this book. A book for young adults can always change the way the reader looks at things. In this book, you will find that people look at Melinda different because a rumor that was spread. You will also find that in some parts of this book, it is written as a script. It also has short sections at a time, written like a diary. Speak is a book for many kinds of readers. Although this book is for young adults, parent and teachers could see a whole new world in Speak.
Laurie Halse Anderson was raised in Syracuse, New York, which is where the book Speak takes place. Growing up, Anderson's favorite book was the dictionary. For her sake, that was good, because she is a horrible speller. Practice with words has paid off with Anderson's first book for young adults. Speak won the ALA's Printz award, which hopefully will be the true beginning of more great books for teens.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: Speak

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

"The basketball pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can't read lips."(Page-8)

As a young adult, Melinda has to go through a lot of tests to make her a better and stronger person. Because of a traumatic event, she becomes speechless and shuts herself off from the world. Melinda eventually makes it through a tough year and tells her story.
When Melinda is going through all of this trouble, the reader really feels for her and wishes there were ways to help her. Readers suspect a very serious crime has been committed. Is Melinda going to speak? The ending of the book may be a surprise.
I really enjoyed this book. It was something that I could get into and relate to real life instances. When Melinda says that she can't talk to anyone about her problems, I related to her, since I have felt that way many times. The reader wants to talk to Melinda about her situation.
Laurie Halse Anderson, a writer from Syracuse, New York, began writing as a young child. She would sit at her typewriter and type newspaper columns, stories, and letters. She loved words and her favorite book was the dictionary. She has written several children's stories. Speak, Anderson's first novel for young adults, won the Michael Printz Award. Hopefully, many more books will follow.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: SPEAK
Laurie Halse Anderson

"I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aubrey Cheerleader. IT is my nightmare and I can't wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'll throw up."
Melinda Sordino just busted an end-of -school party when she called the cops. All of her friends were at that party and now hate her. Melinda goes through her 9th grade school year not telling anyone what actually happened at that party. One day when she is confronted by IT, Andy Evans, in a closet this time will Melinda be able to speak the truth?
Reading this book for the second time, I fell back into the problems that Melinda went through. This was a wonderful book written from Melinda's point of view. The reader follows Melinda's problems through high school. This book, on the other hand, was a little slow moving. When she was trying to figure her life out.
This is a book that I would give to kids that are going into high school and want to learn about the struggles that typical teens face. I would recommend this book to girls, because they can relate to Melinda's encounters with clicks, boys and even her parents.
The author, Laurie Halse Anderson read many books; one of her favorites was Heidi. Laurie Anderson fell in love with writing when her second-grade teacher taught her how to write haikus. This is strange but her favorite book is the dictionary. The reader can see first hand that Anderson's love of words in her detailed descriptions in Speak.

Rating:
Summary: SPEAK
Review: Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
I open a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this? A whimper a peep?"

Melinda is entering her first year of high school with no friends. Earlier in the summer, she had called 911 at a party. Something had happened that would change her life forever and no one would listen to her. Everyone just ignored her and made fun of her because she was a wimp. Slowly, Melinda withdraws into her own world and stops speaking.
Throughout the book, Melinda hints at what happened at the party, and she is trying to speak. The reader has to discover the truth just like Melinda's friends. This is a realistic book about high school clicks and the peer pressure put on teenagers.
If you like books about teenagers and how their life works, this book would be great. This book could shows teenagers not to be afraid to speak out and tell someone about their problems.
Laurie Halse Anderson attended Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York, then transferred to Georgetown University where she earned a bachelor's degree in Languages in Linguistics. The only book written by Laurie is Speak, for which she won the Michael Printz award.

Rating:
Summary: My all time favorite book in the WHOLE ENITRE WORLD!
Review: This is one of my favorite books. Melinda is one of my fav characters ever. Her witty sarcasm and additude is halarious and so deep. This is 1 of those books that every teenager needs to read. It opened my eyes to notice someone who doesn't talk alot and to come to them with open arms and not to be a victim of rumors and judgments.

~Sarah

Rating:
Summary: Amazing book
Review: This book is just great. I love to read it over and over all the time. Laurie Halse Anderson is a wonderful writer with alot of in depth detail about what Malinda has to go through and it's just a book you cant stop reading and put down. You get so into the characters thoughts you feel her pain and feel what she goes through everyday. I know what it's like to be an outcast in a school full of people who dont know what you've been through, especially if your holding in a dark secret.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: This teenage girl experience a great deal of pain during her prime teenage years. Being a 13 year old myself i can understand not being able to express your feelings after a harsh experience like rape. This book really shows an outcaster and their story.

Rating:
Summary: oh :D My love!
Review: This is an amazing book. I have read it over and over again. "Speak" gets inside your head, and stays there. This book describes so many little things that are eating her alive, and I want to never forget her pain. I wish I had a school closet to retreat into like her.