Speak

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson


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...

9/10

I read this book for the first time a couple of years ago...it belonged to a friend of mines niece who was in high school at the time. (Holy crap..I just realized I still have her book! How rude of me...need to return this..sorry Ryan!) I loved the book and it started me on whole teen-book binge. I swear there were not books like this when I was a teen.

It is sort of a depressing topic...but its funny in places...a really quick read...and its just really good. (its a Newberry winner for goodness sake! The Newberrys dont lie!) And I think it has a pretty satisfying ending. Great book. And the movie (with Kristen Stewart) is really good as well...but read the book first!