Speak (1999) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 5 stars

“If The Golden Compass were never written, Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak would win my "Best Young Adult Novel of All Time" award. The novel is jam-packed with symbols and figurative language to make the word nerd in me giggle with delight. At the same time, the novel is down-to-earth enough to be more accessible to younger readers. Plus, it even pokes fun at the idea of "hammering [a book] to death" by overanalyzing it. As an English teacher, I cannot help but feel a twinge of appreciative guilt for thinking I may have potentially hurt a student's interest in a book by dissecting it too much. Speak has something for every reader to enjoy, with its dark themes interlaced with its light-hearted and witty (and often sarcastic) tone. Make sure to pick it up soon, so you, too, can fall in love with it, just like I have. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“This was a sad book about a high school girl that had been raped durring the summer break. She had been at a party that was apart of more than one illegal event. She had been drunk at the time not knowing what to do. At school she had been ignored and betrayed by all of her old friends. The author explains how she perservers through all of her problems through the book. The book was good and I would recommend it.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Speak is about Melinda, a freshman, who struggles her first year of high school surrounded by people who hate her. No friends, family support, and no one to talk to about the guy who raped her at a party before school started and she called the cops. When she comes face to face with Andy Evans, the guy who raped her, she finally learns to come out with what happened and get help.

I recommend this book to anyone, really. Whether you're struggling to overcome rape, or know someone who's been raped, or whatever the case may be. This is an amazing book.”

• Rated 5 stars

“This book walks you through the freshman year of Melinda Sordino, a young girl who is shunned by everyone in her school for calling the cops to come to a party, not because of the drinking, but because of another unspeakable thing that happened that night. See what one girl goes through to keep her deep, dark secret. This one is hard to put down. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“I thought this book was good in teaching people how to not judge people completely if you don't know their whole story, but I wasn't really shocked by anything and I didn't think it was very entertaining. What I did like about this book though, was that it showed the major conflicts in her life and all the things that were keeping her from speaking out.”

• Rated 3 stars

“This book was alright. It was really good at some parts like when she got revenge on Andy and threatened to stab him in the neck with a piece of glass that was pretty awesome. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“Whereas I could understand where one might possibly enjoy this story, I could not. The book is just simply not the genre I usually read. There is a lot of emotion in the story, and I feel as if it might be more suitible read for the female gender. I am more into the adventure, and fantasy stories. Anyone that enjoys this genre book, would appreciate this book. I would reccomend this book to one that enjoys teen drama books.”

• Rated 2 stars

“I thought this book was ok. It was definitely not my favorite, but it was alright. I like how the author put her report card at the end of each chapter, and how she described the incident that happened, in a very settle way. I kind of thought that pace of the book was slow, and it took awhile to tell us if Rachelle actually believed Melinda about what happened. I would recommend this book mature students. You really have to be mature to read this book, because it is a very serious situation.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Book that shows a lot of emotion. Even though its in first person it shows emotion from lots of points of view. The path to the climax is hard to distinguish and the climax is very clear but it is still a very good book about speaking out. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes depression. Melinda was raped at a party. She called the cops and all her friends hate her now. She ends up making new friends but that doesn't work out so she goes into depression. Art class and a janitors closet are the only places she can be herself. This book is about speaking out and learning about the power of speaking.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Speak is about a girl who is really depressed because she got raped. She starts to lose her friends, grades go down, and she doesn't speak. Eventually, Melinda overcomes her depression from the help of art class and standing up the person who raped her. I recommend this book to anyone who likes teen novels and is interested in depression type of books.”