From Barnes and Noble website:

"Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place is to be alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something that she is trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth."

My thoughts:

Wow! This book really struck a chord with me and even though I read it a couple of months ago, I'm not having any problems remembering the reasons why. The main reason that I enjoyed this book was because of Melinda. Melinda was such a realistic character and one that I, as the reader, couldn't help but connect with. She had her reasons for not speaking and sadly there was no one around her that really picked up on the fact that she was talking less and less or really not at all. Her parents were absorbed in themselves and their own problems and with her friends not speaking to her...well, there wasn't anyone that she could really turn to. I loved that she began to find an outlet to express herself in art. I just plain loved Melinda. She reminded me of the teenager I once was and while I didn't have the issues that she did, I still was easily able to relate to what she was going through. Which is what makes Laurie Halse Anderson such an amazing author as she has created such a realistic character that the reader understands. I couldn't help but understand why Melinda was acting and reacting the way she was especially as I read further into the story. Such an amazing book!

All in all, this was an amazing read and one that I will be reading again in the future. Even though I didn't make a top ten for 2009 (too lazy), this is definitely one book that would have been on it. I'll be recommending this one to any teenager that I come across as well as to all of you book readers out there :) And I will definitely be checking out this author's backlist and reading more by Anderson. ( )

This was a great book to read, but I can also understand why many libraries don't have this book because it is so true to actual life, and it seems no one wants to talk about what really happens in high school -- everything is sugarcoated. This book is about Melinda who is raped at a party right before she is about to start high school. She becomes an outcast of sorts - it reminds me of a Lifetime movie - and struggles with who she is and why things happened the way they did. I think this is a great book for both parents and teens to read and discuss.
I would recommend this book for my library (medium public library). ( )

I got this book because I loved the movie, but I couldn't put this book down- it read fast. The unique style was captivating, and I was completely with Melinda as she tried to make sense of everything. I loved that she was a tree- I'd love to choose a word like that. I loved the places where she didn't speak and where she did. I loved seeing the way her life fell apart (even though I didn't want it to- it was just right). ( )

After seeing all the awards this book had won and been nominated for, it was on my to-be-read list. However, one of the teachers at my school recommended that it was a must read for both myself and my teenage daughter.

Speak is the story of Melinda Sordino. She is not what I would consider a typical high school student but many readers can relate to her struggles in school with friends and teachers. As a mom, it was heart-wrenching for me to read how poorly she communicated with her parents.

Published by Scholastic in 1999, this story is in no way outdated. Laurie Halse Anderson does a great job leading the reader along the path to discovery as to what happened to Melinda at the end of the summer. We are given little clues along the way to the final revelation of what her secret actually is. ( )

This is a book that made me cry. Anderson deals with this sensitive topic in such an understanding way that I wasn’t able to get this book out of my head for months. I love the layers of symbolism and progress of Melinda’s journey. Every girl should read this book. ( )