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Review
A stunning first novel... Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy. The book's overall gritty realism and Melinda's hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired. (PUBLISHERS WEEKLY )
Nails the high school experience cold. An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from first word to last. (THE HORN BOOK )
The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn, but it is its raw and unvarnished look at the dynamics of the high school experience that makes this a novel that will be hard for readers to forget. (KIRKUS REVIEWS )
'Strong and searching novels that cover very difficult scenarios...The humanity of the protagonist really shines through in the expert characterisation and writing, making these novels really challenge the reader's empathy. I would strongly recommend these stark and thought provoking titles.' (The Bookseller, 13th April 2001 )
'Anderson has produced an outstanding book which invites the reader's admiration and empathy ... The power of Speak to evoke a positive response in spite of harrowing realism lies in Anderson's poetic prose and witty first person narration.' (BfK, July 2001 )
'Highly recommended.' (THE SCOTSMAN )
Nails the high school experience cold. An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from first word to last. (THE HORN BOOK )
The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn, but it is its raw and unvarnished look at the dynamics of the high school experience that makes this a novel that will be hard for readers to forget. (KIRKUS REVIEWS )
'Strong and searching novels that cover very difficult scenarios...The humanity of the protagonist really shines through in the expert characterisation and writing, making these novels really challenge the reader's empathy. I would strongly recommend these stark and thought provoking titles.' (The Bookseller, 13th April 2001 )
'Anderson has produced an outstanding book which invites the reader's admiration and empathy ... The power of Speak to evoke a positive response in spite of harrowing realism lies in Anderson's poetic prose and witty first person narration.' (BfK, July 2001 )
'Highly recommended.' (THE SCOTSMAN )
Product Description
From her first moment at Merryweather High, Melinda Sordino knows she's an outcast. She busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops - a major infraction in high-school society - so her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't know glare at her. No one knows why she called the police, and she can't get out the words to explain. So she retreats into her head, where the lies and hypocrisies of high school stand in stark relief to her own silence. But it's not so comfortable in her head, either - there's something banging around in there that she doesn't want to think about. But, try as she might, it just won't go away...
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
It is my first morning of high school. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It is my first morning of high school. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Melinda hates high school already. Her old friends won't speak to her because she ruined a dumb high school party by calling the cops. But only Melinda knows why. And meanwhile, she's not saying. And her life is cruddy. Her parents. Well. Who in their right mind would speak to them? And her new so called friend is just with her until she finds someone cool to hang out with. Melinda knows she [feels like rubbish]. But can she pull herself out of it and speak out about the truth? This book shows you just how vile school can be. And even though it's set in the states, the issues of friendship and sex it tackles are really well written. It's funny, it's brave. It's one for the girls, but it's not a girly book. It's honest. As a school librarian, i've passed this to a couple of keen reading girls, and they both read it it one night, coming back to say how they loved it. Excellent, and recommended for any school library.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I highly recommend this novel. After glancing at its first few pages, I found myself competing with my youngest sister of reading it who was in Lower School. As a teenager, portraying a teen's mind is a difficult feat. It has never been told in a form that closely relates to today's teenagers like this one. Anderson has revealed it all through Melinda, a quiet and witty character who has become more of a herione in her own story. An outcast, 'artistic' and terribly rejected freshmen girl attending a highschool of students that detest the sight of her is a bitter, yet perfect, setting for this one girl's true-to-life story. Her untalkative, solitary, yet charming character will glue the readers' eyes to every page. What makes this novel unique is that it stabs the reader in the heart: you become Melinda and react similarly to situations inside the novel while you read her world. It allows readers to experience what it feels like to be that person, a person who's ruined reputation was made by her one (desperate) phone call. You will feel pity for Melinda, learn and grow to actually cheer on her personal or social successes, and smile contently whenever she cleverly uses imagery when comparing something to another ie. a greek-god teenager, her volcanic-expolding parents at the dinner table. I tell you, this novel is the bomb of all (short) teenager novels. It will make you inseparable from reading it. A clever piece of work that must be owned by any teenager or adult. It's that good.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I started reading this book on the way to work and I got so into it, I just wanted to "disappear" and continue reading all day. It is one of the best books I've read this year, and one of the best so far in my life I think. I am truly impressed by the way Laurie Halse Andersen mixes irony, humour, insights and the deepest pain. Anybody who's gone through school will recognise _something_ in it, even though you may not have been in Melinda's shoes, and anybody's who's still in school will find comfort in it. It's one of those books you like so much that you don't how to describe it because whatever you say, you feel it's not enough. It was a couple of weeks since I finished it, but it's still on my mind. And I've convinced a couple of my friends to read it as well, and they loved it too!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Story That NEEDS to be Heard
Just...wow.
I started reading this a few hours ago, and didn't stop until the last page was turned. Read more
I started reading this a few hours ago, and didn't stop until the last page was turned. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Pippa Lockwood
On the bandwagon
I really enjoyed this one. If it wasn't for the predictability of what happened and for the writing style at some points - the 'teenage speak'and deliberate misspellings annoyed... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Stepping Out of the Page
Shockingly Written (Spoilers!)
...and correctly so.
The topic of this book is rape, and how the fact that 13 y/o Melinda is unable to communicate to her peers what happened to her, causes the sytem of... Read more
The topic of this book is rape, and how the fact that 13 y/o Melinda is unable to communicate to her peers what happened to her, causes the sytem of... Read more
Published 7 months ago by S.T. Ealth
So Good!
This book was so good. I started it only meaning to read for a little while, but I was halfway through it before I finally had to put it down because I had a whole lot of other... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Dawn
a good read
This book is really well written, takes you back to when you are her age and feel like an outcast. It is heartwarming but also a little dark at times. I highly recommend this book.
Published 9 months ago by Jenii
Very well written
Speak is not a verly long book and I read it in one day. We meet Melinda who is going through
a very tough time, thats a bit of an understatement. Read more
a very tough time, thats a bit of an understatement. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ms. J. Clarke
Emotional
Speak is a great Young Adult novel that follows a young girl, Melinda as she is trying to cope in school after a traumatic and horrible event that takes place at a summer party. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Siobhán
Emotionally gripping
The book is written in a monologue from Melinda Sordino's perspective, she is a freshman (13/14 years old) and it begins as she starts high school. Read more
Published 13 months ago by whereiskfr
This book means a lot to me!
The moment Melinda Sordino starts her first day at Merryweather High, she knows she is an outcast.
The story starts a few months after something traumatic happened to Melinda. Read more
The story starts a few months after something traumatic happened to Melinda. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Stargirlrainbow
Emotional
Phew, this was a really hard read for me. So emotional on a multitude of levels, taking into account the subject matter I found this particular scenario totally scary as I have 3... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Book Angel Emma
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