Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda is troubled. She is a freshman, all of her old friends no longer speak to her or will be seen with her, and she belongs to no social group. Her parents are on the verge of divorce, which makes Melinda's home life as equally unbearable as her school life. Melinda has a terrible secret. Something happened last summer and the secret is literally silencing her from speaking. Through a friendship with a new student, a re-kindled friendship with an old friend, and a special relationship with her art teacher, Melinda finally learns how to speak again.

Laurie Halse Anderson uses vivid imagery and lyrical prose to bring the characters in this book to life. Anderson uses both narration and character action to build multi dimensions to these characters. The book is told through Melinda's point of view, and Anderson perfectly captures the mean-spirited and ambivalent teenage personality in a believable high school setting. Any reader who has been to high school can easily find themselves lost in this book. The main character's voice is so perfectly penned by Anderson, that the reader would not be surprised to if Anderson herself was a 9th grade student.Anderson takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride right up until the climatic moment in the janitor's closet which is a scene so expertly written, the reader will get chills just imagining what it would be fighting off "The Beast". This book is appropriate for 7th graders and up, and is a Michael L. Printz honor award recipient, as well as a National Book Finalist, An ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and a Booklist Editor's Choice.

This might be one of the best books I have ever read. Even though the subject matter is so very uncomfortable, and even though re-living high school through Melinda's eyes is often painful, this novel is incredible. I got chills up and down my spine several times during the book, cried and laughed out loud. The art teacher, Mr. Freeman, is an excellent teacher who is patient with Melinda, and offers help throughout the book. I loved the metaphor of the tree throughout the book, and when her dad cuts the dead parts off the tree in the front of the yard so that the tree will grow better, Melinda starts to realize she must too do some emotional pruning. In the end, I found Melinda's journey uplifting and motivating.

Key Words
obscene, patrons, probation, hypothalamus, symbolism, misdemeanor, pate, suffragette