"Speak" Speaks to Me!

Last week, I was reviewing the idiom "page turner" with my students and jokingly asked if any of them had stayed up all night to finish a book.  I did not expect anyone to say "yes" as none of them read anything I ask them to read.  But, surprisingly a couple of hands were raised.  A few students said that the book Speak (1999) had been a page turner for them.  Realizing that perhaps if I read books that are of interest to my students, I can find a way to reach them in class, so I picked up Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson from the local library to read during the holiday break. My students are correct - this novel is a page turner.  I started reading the novel at 9am this morning and by 3pm I had finished. I would say reading a book in 5.5 hours can be construed as a page turner (9-3 is 6 hours, but I took a short trip to the drug store).

Synopsis:  "Melinda Sordino, a student with good grades and great friends, has made some mistakes. At the end of a summer party she calls the cops, yet when they arrive she doesn't tell them anything. Back at school the next year, her friends won't speak to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her as the fink who wrecked everybody's party, and her grades start dropping. Her relationship with her parents deteriorates quickly. She becomes sullen, and withdrawn. However this picture is not the whole story.  Her parents know something is wrong but cannot get her to open up. Her only hope is her art teacher; he realizes something is very wrong and through the assignments he gives her tries to draw her out. This is a story of a girl who is abused, and who doesn't know how to talk about it, but in keeping it inside she is self-destructing. Can Melinda find her voice and speak of her sorrow, or will her silence destroy her?"

Review: All teenagers (and adults) should read this book. As a high school teacher, I can attest to the fact that peer pressure is insidious. It is particularly good at convincing victims to feel like they have done something wrong, which is the message at the heart of this novel.  Speak is a fast-paced read that involves the reader emotionally from the very start and is an accurate portrayal of high school cruelty and peer pressure - a very common occurrence. This novel is entirely relatable. Anyone who went to high school should identify with most of what happens in this novel, no matter what their age. Anderson doesn't merely tell a story, she lets the reader inside the mind of the heroine. Descriptive language and an active monologue allows the reader to actually feel the torment and confusion of a victim of abuse.  Well written and engrossing!  If you have a teenager in your life, buy this book for them to read. 

Apparently there is a movie which is based on the book.  I have not seen the movie, but I would prefer to encourage people to open up a book which will open up their minds. (Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a book snob.)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars