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Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Showing 1-5 of 204 (next | show all)
  MsMoonlight | Nov 1, 2009 |
I'm sure others disagree, but I found the author's device of hiding the most important element of the story from the reader to be very annoying. Sure, it can be mildly entertaining to play at guessing what the author means, but does it really help us get to the meat of a very serious issue? I found the technique distancing -- it made it hard for me to care much about the main character. I appreciate that the main character wants to hide her secret from everyone in her life, but that's no reason to hide it from us.

Also: heavy-handed symbolism and a climax that strains credibility. I did like the art teacher. ( )
1 vote george.d.ross | Oct 26, 2009 |
I loved this book. Melinda's sarcastic humor is engrossing, as is the plot. It keeps you hooked, asking yourself, what happened to her? I loved the characters, and how everything was so realistic. The whole book revolves around what happened to her that night, and how she's too afraid and hurt to tell anyone about it. An absolutely amazing book. ( )
1 vote kikistina | Oct 24, 2009 |
The book "Speak" it a very good book for the teenager range. the book is a good example of things that happen in high shool, to girls and guys for that matter. I liked the book, even tho tit dose not relate me direcaly. i like the story line, from begaining to end was very easy to follow. the was a good message, to me it was kind of hard to fine tho. other then that all the charactors were good, setting, and plot was all put together well. My favorate part of the story is when the she gose to the party. I love partys like the one in the book. the unfortnate thing is that she is date raped at the party under a tree. In stead of telling someone she calls the police and then dips (leaves.) ( )
  davidkrause | Oct 19, 2009 |
This book is GREAT. I can almost relate to it too! The main character's life is so influenced by what happened to her last year. She pours out those feelings by her amazing artwork. This book was really inspiring, I even watched the movie featuring Kristen Stewart. ( )
  Voxc | Oct 19, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 204 (next | show all)
The book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson, was incredible because, it's what almost all teenagers go through and what there mind is set on and thats what they think about most of the time. It's even what they asked themselves"am I going to be popular" or "do I fit in". Of course Melinda the main character was at lost for words when she was raped but only because she put herself in that position, making herself self esteem very low.
added by AngelicaCorrea | editSpeak, Angelica Correa (Oct 16, 2009)
 
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
To Sandy Bernstein, who helped me find my voice, and to my husband Greg, who listens
First words
It is my first morning of high school.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original publication date1999
People/CharactersMelinda Sordino, Andy Evans, Heather, David Petrakis, Ms. Keen, Mr. Freeman (show all 11)
Important placesMerryweather High
Important eventsThe party, School trapped with the raper.
Awards and honorsNew York Times bestseller (Children's Paperback, 2001), ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (2004.3|Literature & Language Arts, 2004), BCCB Blue Ribbon Book (1999), Golden Kite Award (Fiction, 1999), National Book Award finalist (Young People's Literature, 1999), School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (1999) (show all 15)
DedicationTo Sandy Bernstein, who helped me find my voice, and to my husband Greg, who listens
First wordsIt is my first morning of high school.
Last words(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Publisher's editorFarrar Straus Giroux
DescriptionThis book describes the struggle of a teenage girl to find her voice. You watch the character fall into depression, go mute, drop tremendously in school, and isolate herself from society. As if feeling unsafe in the world isn... (show all)
Book description
This book describes the struggle of a teenage girl to find her voice. You watch the character fall into depression, go mute, drop tremendously in school, and isolate herself from society. As if feeling unsafe in the world isn't enough, Melinda doesn't even feel safe in her own mind. And why? Maybe because all of her once best friends refuse to talk to her for busting an end of the summer party. Or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that her parents couldn't take less of an interest in her, and refuse to communicate as they get sucked into their workaholic lives. Deep down, Melinda Sordino knows the reason that her life has turned into a living hell. The only way to escape this whirlwind of torture is to speak, but that's not as easy as it may seem.

Amazon.com (ISBN 014131088X, Paperback)

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. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:53 -0400)

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