Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Laurie Halse AndersonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-04-23
ISBN: 014131088X
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Speak
Book Reviews of Speak
Book Review: It'll make you laugh and wince
Summary: 5 Stars
Delightful! The book will melt through your fingers - while it truly is a "young adult" novel, it is also full of biting humor and sharp insights into high school life. A witty yet painful look at a girl's experience of trauma and adjusting to high school. I highly recommend it to women, AND ESPECIALLY men of all ages. Because, guys, we simply don't reflect enough at the way that those without the blessing (burden?) of the y-chromosome see things differently.
***
An excerpt:
The noise of the gym pulls me in. I stand by the door for the last minute of the game. The crowd chants down the last seconds like it's New Year's Eve, then explode from the stands like angry hornets at the sound of the buzzer. We won, beating the Coatesville Cougars 51-50. The cheerleaders weep. The coaches embrace. I get caught up in the excitement and clap like a little girl.
This is my mistake, thinking I belong. I should have bolted for home immediately. But I don't. I hang around. I want to be a part of it all.
David Petrakis pushes towards the doors in the middle of a group of friends. He sees me looking at him and detaches himself from his pod.
[David is Melinda's lab partner, very brainy, stood up to the racism of their history teacher...no ominous undertones to their relationship AT ALL.]
David: "Melinda! Where were you sitting? Did you see that last shot? Unbelievable!! Unbefreakinglievable." He dribbles an imaginary ball on the ground, fakes left, right, then pulls up for a shot. David should stick to human-rights abuses. He goes on and on, a loose ball racing downhill. To hear him talk, you'd think they just won the NBA championship. Then he invites me back to his house for celebratory pizza.
David: "Come on, Mel. You gotta come with us! My dad told me to bring anyone I wanted. We can give you a ride home after if you want. It'll be fun. You do remember fun, don't you?"
Nope. I don't do parties. No thanks. I trot out excuses: homework, strict parents, tuba practice, late-night dentist appointment, have to feed the warthogs. I don't have a good track record with parties.
David doesn't bother to analyse my reluctance. If he were a girl, maybe he would have pleaded or whined more. Guys don't do that. Yes/no. Stay/go. Suit yourself. See you Monday.
I think it's some kind of psychiatric disorder when you have more than one personality in your head. That's what it feels like when I walk home. The two Melindas fight every step of the way. Melinda One is pissed that she couldn't go to the party.
Melinda One: "Get a life. It was just pizza. He wasn't going to try anything. His parents were going to be there! You worry too much. You're never going to let us have any fun, are you? You're going to turn into one of those weird old ladies who has a hundred cats and calls the cops when kids cut across her back yard. I can't stand you."
Melinda Two waits for One to finish her tantrum. Two carefully watches the bushes along the sidewalk for a lurking bogeyman or worse.
Melinda Two: "The world is a dangerous place. You don't know what would have happened. What if he was just saying his parents were going to be there? He could have been lying. You can never tell when people are lying. Assume the worst. Plan for disaster. Hurry up and get us home. I don't like it out here. It's too dark."
If I kick both of them out of my head, who would be left?
***
As a teacher, I'm thinking of photocopying a few sections to use in class - and it sure has reminded me of yet another side of the high school experience, and how important it is to check in with students one on one, to remember that they spend the vast majority of their lives outside of my class and my school.
Pick up a copy soon, and read it someplace you can laugh out loud. (And - if you didn't laugh at the excerpt above, get a sense of humor or go read some airport fiction, you philistine.)
Summary of Speak
Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.Awards for Speak
A 2000 Printz Honor Book
A 1999 National Book Award Finalist
An Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist
A 1999 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
Winner of the SCBWI Golden Kite Award
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Quick Pick
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Top Ten First Novel of 1999
A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare Title
Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...
Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
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