Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson

Scholastic, New York, 1997

Genres: Sex Related, Friends and Society, Violence, Family

Reading Level: Young Adult (16-18)

Pages: 198

Awards: Printz Honor, Golden Kite Award, ALA Top Ten, Publishers Weekly Best Book of Year.

Summary:

Melinda Sordino called the cops during a party and now everybody at school hates her. She's a freshman, and she no longer has friends, a life, or even much self respect. Her life is falling apart and nobody but her knows the reason why. This is the sad, but engaging story of a girl who has been hurt and is seeking recovery.

Reaction:

Wow! This isn't a book for the young of heart, because it will leave them scarred. It's very realitic and powerful though, something that I appreciated from this genre. I do NOT recommend this book for anybody younger than 16 unless if they're dealing with these issues at present. I don't want to give the story away, so I won't say what happened to the girl, but you can probably already guess it was bad. It was very well written, so I liked it.

Cautionary Note: Violence, Sex, mild language, Attempted Rape, nothing too graphic, but it's all there.