by Laurie Halse Anderson
My Rating: ★★
"It is my first morning of high school."
Review: I can't remember what made me so interested in reading this book. Perhaps it was the cover? Tremendous cover by the way! At this point it doesn't matter because this is one of those books any "coming of age" girl should read who might feel no one is listening to her or is going through the same things she's going through so no one could possibly understand her. Times really haven't changed much because a story like the one told in this book is still possible and relevant today. That story is the one of a young girl having been raped at a party, not even realizing that's what happened to her at the time until watching "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (I thought that was an interesting touch). She is then blamed by the whole school for calling the police in a moment of panic which silences her into trying to find the words to tell someone, anyone, what really happened to her. The inner monologue was excellent in portraying the right amount of emotions for Melinda, the main character, without going overboard for me. I also appreciated and connected with her relationships with others around her. I was socially awkward myself all throughout my early schooling until I got to college and became somewhat popular and more sociable. I recommend this easy read to anyone seeking to find a voice and speak out against someone who has done you great harm. I'd like to think it won't come about the way it did in this book however. Don't worry I won't spoil the ending by telling you what I mean. You'll just have to read it yourself. But to anyone who even might know someone who has been raped and might be too young to know the difference or think they can't do anything about it, offering them this book just might offer them a voice. My only disappointment was, I thought Melinda was going to reveal what happened to her and who did it through her art assignment with the tree. I probably thought this because as I was reading the book I might have put more stock in the cover than I should have and thought it was a peek into what was coming. Okay, maybe I gave you a little bit of a spoiler there by telling you what DOESN'T happen so don't look for that. This is definitely a "teaching points" book as well if teachers should decide to delve into this still touchy topic in the classroom. But I'm sure every young adult has read this book already. It was written over 12 years ago and sold over one million copies so I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here. But if you haven't read it, give it a try. It's just about 200 pages so it shouldn't take you more than two days to read.
UPDATE: It turns out, in 2004, this book was made into a movie starring none other than Kristen Stewart as Melinda! Everyone knows her as the girl in those Twilight movies. I prefer to remember her as Jodie Foster's daughter in Panic Room. Maybe I'll watch it someday? Or maybe I won't...It does help to know that Laurie Halse Anderson helped in writing the adaptation.
Summary: The first ten lies they tell you in high school. "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. Speak was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.
To learn more about Laurie Halse Anderson visit her website here.
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