Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0374371520 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0374371520 Global Overview for this book
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
4 journalers for this copy...
Found at a book sale at the Old Stone Church in Centreville, Virginia, USA.
melydia has this book still, but I earread a copy and she kindly let me journal this copy with my thoughts...
I read this book specifically because it made Amazon.com's list of the top 10 books for Young Adults. It occurred to me, about halfway through, that there's a difference between books for Young Adults and Young Adult fiction. This book was powerful and moving and amazing. However, it probably would have spoken to me even more if I'd been a teen when I read this.
This is the story of a girl who, as we slowly find out throughout the book, was taken advantage of during a party right before her freshman year of high school. Not just taken advantage of--she was raped, pure and simple. We get little bits of and pieces throughout. Everyone at school hates her, because she called the cops during a party a friend put on. We know something significant is wrong. But on the surface, she appears to be a typical kid having trouble adjusting to a new school. I can completely relate to that. I had a tough 8th grade with no friends. And I spent many of my years in high school with friends eating in teacher's classrooms, doing homework instead of the lunch room. I probably would have liked a closet like the one Melinda has.
Melinda's way of coping is to to just not talk about being raped. If she doesn't talk about it, it doesn't hurt as much. But the problem is, she sees the guy at school. And one of her friends starts dating him. She has an incredibly tough choice to make. If she speaks, it might hurt her. But she has to decide whether to say something that could keep someone who hates her from getting hurt the way Melinda was hurt... or whether to not say anything, because no one's going to believe her anyway. In fact, the first person she tells about it thinks she's just being jealous and gets angry at her. The more she avoids talking about it, the more it doesn't even seem real to her. But she still feels it. She goes through the motions, tries to do what's of expected of her in school, tries to cope. But it eats away at her. She takes comfort in certain things, and finds her voice through a visual medium and a physical confrontation. When she wrote a warning to girls about the boy on the wall of a restroom at school, it was a powerful moment. And when she uses treasured items in her closet to help her stand up to the boy, it was amazing.
The themes of trees and growing and of creating are beautifully woven throughout the story. The tree is a symbol, yes, but the way it's presented is so integral and important that it doesn't feel forced. In fact, during Melinda's English class's discussion of the Scarlet Letter, symbols and metaphors are thrown right at us. And still it feels like a part of the story, not forced or separate at all. In fact, one of the happiest moments for me was when Melinda asked her father to get some seeds for her at the store so she could grow a garden. It was very A Secret Garden and very cathartic, but it wasn't all she needed.
All the ways The Perks of Being a Wallflower failed for me are beautifully done here. We see inside her head, so we know why she acts the way she does, but we're the only ones who really understand it. It's actually so justified and understandable. I could relate to having so much misery and having completely justified actions but when someone asks you a direct question like "why did you do that?" you can't say a thing. There are some things that are so painful you can't explain them to someone if that person hasn't been through it. Sometimes I wish people could just look into me and know how I feel without having to explain it in words.
But the thing this book succeeds in explaining is that words are needed, that the hardest but most important thing you can do is speak about it. That doesn't just help someone heal, but it helps other people cope with what happened to them (because, sadly, this sort of thing happens WAY too often), and it helps prevent it from happening to other people. I loved that Melinda decided to speak up not because she needed to say it to heal herself, but because she was trying to save someone else (in fact, someone who hated her). That shows such strength of character.
I read this book specifically because it made Amazon.com's list of the top 10 books for Young Adults. It occurred to me, about halfway through, that there's a difference between books for Young Adults and Young Adult fiction. This book was powerful and moving and amazing. However, it probably would have spoken to me even more if I'd been a teen when I read this.
This is the story of a girl who, as we slowly find out throughout the book, was taken advantage of during a party right before her freshman year of high school. Not just taken advantage of--she was raped, pure and simple. We get little bits of and pieces throughout. Everyone at school hates her, because she called the cops during a party a friend put on. We know something significant is wrong. But on the surface, she appears to be a typical kid having trouble adjusting to a new school. I can completely relate to that. I had a tough 8th grade with no friends. And I spent many of my years in high school with friends eating in teacher's classrooms, doing homework instead of the lunch room. I probably would have liked a closet like the one Melinda has.
Melinda's way of coping is to to just not talk about being raped. If she doesn't talk about it, it doesn't hurt as much. But the problem is, she sees the guy at school. And one of her friends starts dating him. She has an incredibly tough choice to make. If she speaks, it might hurt her. But she has to decide whether to say something that could keep someone who hates her from getting hurt the way Melinda was hurt... or whether to not say anything, because no one's going to believe her anyway. In fact, the first person she tells about it thinks she's just being jealous and gets angry at her. The more she avoids talking about it, the more it doesn't even seem real to her. But she still feels it. She goes through the motions, tries to do what's of expected of her in school, tries to cope. But it eats away at her. She takes comfort in certain things, and finds her voice through a visual medium and a physical confrontation. When she wrote a warning to girls about the boy on the wall of a restroom at school, it was a powerful moment. And when she uses treasured items in her closet to help her stand up to the boy, it was amazing.
The themes of trees and growing and of creating are beautifully woven throughout the story. The tree is a symbol, yes, but the way it's presented is so integral and important that it doesn't feel forced. In fact, during Melinda's English class's discussion of the Scarlet Letter, symbols and metaphors are thrown right at us. And still it feels like a part of the story, not forced or separate at all. In fact, one of the happiest moments for me was when Melinda asked her father to get some seeds for her at the store so she could grow a garden. It was very A Secret Garden and very cathartic, but it wasn't all she needed.
All the ways The Perks of Being a Wallflower failed for me are beautifully done here. We see inside her head, so we know why she acts the way she does, but we're the only ones who really understand it. It's actually so justified and understandable. I could relate to having so much misery and having completely justified actions but when someone asks you a direct question like "why did you do that?" you can't say a thing. There are some things that are so painful you can't explain them to someone if that person hasn't been through it. Sometimes I wish people could just look into me and know how I feel without having to explain it in words.
But the thing this book succeeds in explaining is that words are needed, that the hardest but most important thing you can do is speak about it. That doesn't just help someone heal, but it helps other people cope with what happened to them (because, sadly, this sort of thing happens WAY too often), and it helps prevent it from happening to other people. I loved that Melinda decided to speak up not because she needed to say it to heal herself, but because she was trying to save someone else (in fact, someone who hated her). That shows such strength of character.
After calling the cops at a party full of underaged drinkers, Melinda begins ninth grade as the school pariah, all her former friends having abandoned her. Little do they know Melinda hides a horrible pain. Though I guessed Melinda's secret early on, the gradual revealing of all the details was still just as harrowing. As she deals with being friendless and afraid she begins to find herself through art and gardening. I found Melinda's voice to be quite realistic, quite reminiscent of my own high school experience (minus the trauma and truancy, that is). She's both funny and tragic, detached but still wanting to belong. I was completely engrossed in her journey. Next I need to see the film. I hear Kristen Stewart is actually really good in it, which actually doesn't surprise me, considering I've already nicknamed her Twitchy McStutters. Perfect for someone who barely speaks.
Journal Entry 4 by 
Melydia
at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia USA on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Melydia at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia USA on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Released 12 yrs ago (1/28/2012 UTC) at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Bringing this to the BCinDC meetup at Ballston Mall in Arlington, VA. I hope it doesn't come home with me.
Realistic, poignant story about a troubled teen who is an outcast at her school because she called the police at an end-of-summer party. Her response is, well, no response. She withdraws into herself and just doesn't talk.
Melinda's secret -- she was raped at that party, but never told the police or anyone else what happened -- was easy to figure out long before it was revealed near the end of the book. But that didn't make the story any less compelling. Eventually, another girl starts dating the boy who raped her, and Melinda faces a difficult choice: to protect herself by maintaining her silence, or to protect the other student -- a girl who doesn't even like her -- by speaking out.
Melinda's secret -- she was raped at that party, but never told the police or anyone else what happened -- was easy to figure out long before it was revealed near the end of the book. But that didn't make the story any less compelling. Eventually, another girl starts dating the boy who raped her, and Melinda faces a difficult choice: to protect herself by maintaining her silence, or to protect the other student -- a girl who doesn't even like her -- by speaking out.
To give away at the BC_DC holiday party here at my house.
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********************************
Welcome to BookCrossing!
Making a journal entry here lets me know the book has been found and is safe in your hands. The book is yours now! Read it, give it to a friend, pass it on, or keep it forever--it's your choice.
If you pass it on to someone or leave it "in the wild" for someone else to find, please make another journal entry or release notes here to explain that it's traveling to find another home.
You can remain anonymous on the website or join BookCrossing. Joining is free, safe, and spam-free and you'll get an e-mail every time a new person finds this book and logs in on the site to say so. You'll be able to watch it move around and find out where it's been and what other readers thought of it.
I hope you enjoy the book. Happy reading!
Okay, I need to acknowledge that my daughter is never going to be a die-hard BookCrosser. She took this and read it, but isn't interested in making any journal entries. She was sorting through her bookshelves, though, and decided that she no longer needed to keep this one, so she handed it off to me to pass along.
Journal Entry 8 by 
ResQgeek
at Day Of The Book (Street Festival) On Howard Avenue in Kensington, Maryland USA on Friday, February 20, 2015
ResQgeek at Day Of The Book (Street Festival) On Howard Avenue in Kensington, Maryland USA on Friday, February 20, 2015
Released 9 yrs ago (4/26/2015 UTC) at Day Of The Book (Street Festival) On Howard Avenue in Kensington, Maryland USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
This book will be available at the BookCrossing booth at the annual Day of the Book festival.
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