Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Goodreads,

"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."

Goodreads - Speak

Awards and Nominations:

• SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Fiction (1999)
• National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature (1999)
• Edgar Award Nominee for Best Young Adult (2000)
• Michael L. Printz Award Nominee (2000)
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (2000)
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee (2001)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2001)
• Evergreen Teen Book Award (2002)
• South Caroline Book Award for Young Adult Book Award (2002)
• Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for YA (2002)
• California Young Readers Medal Nominee for Young Adult (2003)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2005)

I faintly recall reading this book in junior high or high school.  I remember it was one of those moving books that everyone wanted to read and it was a pain to get your hands on a copy from the library.  I decided to reread this book since Anderson just released her newest book Shout.  I'm excited to get to review this book so that I can jump into her next book.  

This book is told from the teenage perspective of Melinda.  Melinda just wanted to be a normal high school freshman, but being at a party the summer before changed everything.  Melinda was raped at the party and she called the cops as a result but ran before they arrived.  Melinda walks around everyday living with what happened.  Her grades plummet and her social life sinks.  Melinda gets to a point where she stops speaking.  But she must decide if she has a voice or not because the monster who raped her walks the same halls as her. 

This book is honestly about rape and having the voice to stand up and tell what happened.  Melinda was terrified to say what happened.  She wanted to forget the whole thing, but every day she was struggling.  When she told one of her former friends what happened the friend told her she was just jealous and that she was a liar.  I feel like this book is more relevant now than it was years ago, especially with the #metoo movement.  More and more women are coming forward, sharing their stories of sexual harassment or rape.  Girls and women alike need to learn and understand that they have a voice and they need to use it if something happens.  I do feel like a shift is happening where it is becoming more normal to report and share what happened.  I honestly feel that books like this are what will make people speak up and report.

I have two complaints about this book.  One was that it felt so disoriented and scattered.  I understand that it was written this way so that the book was truly from the perspective of a teenager.  I, however, found it annoying and it kind of took away from the book.  My other complaint was that there wasn't any real healing after everyone found out what happened.  The book just kind of ended.  I would have loved to have read about her healing and how her parents handled the news.  I just felt like there was more story to be told, and it just wasn't told.

Overall, the book was good.  I give it 4 stars and recommend that teenagers read this, both boys and girls.  I think that everyone can learn something from this book.  I will say that this book has a rape trigger in it and warn people to take caution before reading.