Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson|Book Review

“Speak up for yourself–we want to know what you have to say.” From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself. (Goodreads)

Review:

/5’s ( TRIGGER WARNING CONTAINS RAPE, BULLY, DEPRESSION CONTENT)

Yet, another really  great audiobook that I was able to listen too. This follows our main protagonist Melinda, who after calling the cops on a party finds herself to be friendless and learning to navigate high school as being known as the girl who called the cops on a party.

As one may assume, she isn’t the most popular person nor is she well liked. In order to survive Melinda decides that she is going to stop talking in order to deal with the events of the party.

This book is dark. It is filled with raw emotion yet it is so powerful. It teaches that your voice is powerful. This reads like a journal, almost as if Melinda is standing in your living room and sharing her story with you.

I think that this pertains mainly to the female audience whether or not on was raped, I think as females we can identify with unwanted male attention. The antagonist in this novel acted as if he was overly desired by the female population. However, as the book goes on one can see that the antagonist is viewed by many to not be as desirable.

I enjoyed this book because it was raw, and heartfelt. There is just so much heart in this book. Its a story of a survivor. I thought it was also a very difficult tale to have written  and for the content I think it is a good start to the conversation regarding rape.I have not read many young adult literature that rises awareness and conversation about rape.

With Warm Cups of Tea and Just a Few More Chapters,

Rina