This is yet another book that I read after seeing the movie, finding out it was originally a book, being frustrated, and rushing out to find a copy. I didn't even realize until I was at the library that I have already read and currently own another of the author's books, Fever, when I was in middle school. I remembered loving it, which made me even more excited for this novel.
When Melinda Sordino enters her freshman year of high school, she had already been blacklisted. Having managed to find her way into a high school party at the end of the summer, she had ended up calling the police and getting several students in trouble or arrested in the process.
But no one thought to ask her side of the story. It never occurred to anyone that she had needed to call the police--that she had been hurt. Now, entering high school friendless and traumatized, she begins to isolate herself. She stops speaking unless necessary. She shuts down.
The only place she feels safe is in art class, where her quirky teacher, Mr. Freeman, both challenges and inspires her. He shows her that, through art, she can breathe again and begin to heal.
Melinda is deeply scarred and feels trapped in the silence that once gave her a sense of comfort. She is still in danger and if she doesn't speak up, someone else could get hurt. But can she overcome her fear and finally speak? She isn't so sure she can--or that anyone will listen if she does.
Speak is a wonderfully written novel about coming of age, healing from deep wounds, and speaking up. Laurie Halse Anderson leaves no doubt through her skillfully crafted imagery that words can create just as well as paint. Her ability to mold the details and the words just the way they needed to give the reader a perfect picture that resonates with them long afterward left me awestruck.
Not only was her capability as a wordsmith one of the things that made this book easily soar to my favorites category, but her ability to capture what it looks like to be a terrified girl who feels trapped in her own emotions left me stunned. Melinda jumps off the page, as real as a character can possibly be without stepping clean out of the book and talking to the reader in person. There isn't a single moment that you find yourself battling with disbelief. Anderson lets you empathize with her character and see what it's like to step inside her mind.
This book is a must read. I cannot express enough how well written and necessary this book is to a generation that has dealt with more pain than any before it. Pick it up immediately. Whether you're in middle school, high school, or even gearing up to cash in that retirement fund: Speak is a book you have to get your hands on.
Rating: ~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~
David: "But you got it wrong. The suffragettes were all about speaking up, screaming for their rights. You can't speak up for your right to be silent. That's letting the bad guys win. If the suffragettes did that, women wouldn't be able to vote yet."
I blow a bubble in his face. He folds the gum wrappers into tiny triangles.
David: "Don't get me wrong. I think what you did was kind of cool and getting stuck in MISS wasn't fair. But don't expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself."
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