Book Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Several weeks back, when I was at the Goodwill store, I found Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak on the shelves there. I've really been trying to cut back on purchasing books if I know that I can secure them at our local library. I was pretty sure I could get this at the library, but my blogging friend, Amy, had written a post about this book and it sounded intriguing.

I'm glad I spent the seventy cents and acquired my own copy. I began reading in the van on the way to the water park and had the entire thing finished before ten the following morning. I had to read the passage about the main character's Spanish class out loud for my oldest son's enjoyment (really ... all H.S. Spanish teachers seem a bit over the top on that first day, don't they?). The story was thoroughly absorbing and felt dead-on for its description of the teenage experience.

Melinda Sordino is beginning her freshman year of high school in a state of utter alienation from her old friends. Shunned by everyone because she called the cops to an end-of-summer party, Melinda withdraws deeper and deeper into her own skin, refusing to come out even to speak to her parents. School becomes a chore and her life feels like a prison. Her only comforts come from her hiding spot in an abandoned janitor's closet at school and her art class, where she is attempting to make an image of a tree "speak" to the observer. Just as she cannot seem to get the tree right, she also cannot seem to bring forth the words to explain what is going on inside and what drove her to call the cops in the first place.

The main thing I loved about this book was Laurie Halse Anderson's great command of voice. Melinda speaks plenty, even in her silence. It is not surprising that this book has received numerous awards. Although the subject matter is heavy and difficult, it is a book that teens would easily relate to and benefit from. Melinda survives the unspeakable and finds her voice ... and so can they.