Review Detail

I've been meaning to review Speak for ages. It is a wonderful book on a really terrible topic that manages to keep a sense of humor while simultaneously horrifying the reader.

Melinda, the main character in the book, called the police at a huge party right before the start of her high school career. No one, not even her old friends, will forgive her and she turns into a social pariah. Her only contact with others is with a perky (and kind of annoying) new girl, an art teacher, and her parents (who are going through problems of their own).

Something happened the night of the party that made Melinda call the police, but Melinda is bound up in a silence so intense and so internal, that she just can't say the words. It isn't until the end of the book, after a shocking incident in which she displays her hidden strength, that she is able to finally get the words out.

Ms. Anderson's portrayl of high school life, cliques, and one student's terrible fear is right on target. Even if your problem is less serious than Melinda's, you can still identify with her and what she experiences. We've all been there at one time or another, when we kept our silence through fear (or other reasons).

I highly recommend this book to girls of all ages, and to boys as well, though they aren't the target audience. You may notice that I've been intentionally vague in this review; if you really want to know what happened before reading the book, feel free to read reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The author very effectively holds that knowledge back from the reader for some time, and I hate to be the one to spoil it for a reader new to the book.