Book 12: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Book 12: Speak


by Laurie Halse Anderson
Farrar Straus Giroux
1999
Rating:
4.


Amazon.com Review


Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence. -Jennifer Hubert -This text refers to the Hardcover edition


What do I think?
I think there is a pattern here. Two good books in a row, wall of suck. Two good books, wall of suck.
I can't tell you how much I liked this book. Read it twice, actually. In three days, which is incredibly fast for me. DEFFINATELY recomended.
 
What a lame personal review. I guess I'm already too interested in my next book to write a good review. More later.