Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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 |
Customer Reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Peer Presser, May 20, 2023
I enjoyed this book very much. It was a little slow moving, but it still caught my interest because of the overall moral.
This book is about a freshmen girl in high school, Melinda. She was the averege teenager, but during a at-the-end-of-summer party something horrible happened. Even though something bad had happened to Melinda, people wouldn't talk to her and made her feel bad for calling the cops. They did this because Melinda never told anyone. She kept this big secret to herself, and lost all of her friends over calling the cops. Through out this story Melinda deals with kids that don't understand, and an Art project in which she must draw a real tree. She does make some friends and even finds a hid-away in a janitor's closet. But overall, she gets through a horrible experience in her life.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the realness of a summer ending party. Melinda had a big sceret that she kept hidden. I still don't know why she did keep it hidden, but for some reason she must have thought that she was responsible for what had happened. Melinda was a charcter I could relate to, and maybe this is why I loved this book so much. 2 thumps-up to Laurie Halse Anderson. I loved this book, and I hope you do to.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Review, May 20, 2023
Melinda busted an end of the summer party by calling the police. The night of the party something happened to her (something she can never forget). Since she called the police her old friends will not talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her. On the first day of school a boy that was sitting behind her on the bus, unwrapped his breakfast then shot the wrapper at the back of her head. One of the basketball players hit her square in the face with mash potatoes and gravy. The whole lunchroom laughed at her. Her ex-best friend Rachel and some kids were sitting behind her and they just laughed at her. Rachel was the person in the whole galaxy that Melinda was dying to tell her what really happened. The person Melinda hated, because of the night at the party was Andy Evens.
I would recommend Speak to anyone who, because it was a good story. You will not want to put this book down, because you will want to know what comes next.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Silently I Speak, May 18, 2023
Melinda is considered a nobody in school because she called the cops at a summer party. But nobody really knows why. Now everyone, even her friends hate her. The setting takes place in a barn, near a small woods, At Merryweather High School in Syracuse and at her home. She has nobody to talk to. Nobody except Heather from Ohio, a new girl who is using her until she can find a higher class of friends. Her parents or teachers doesn't even know what happen on that horrible night. Only Andy "Beast" and herself. She goes to school all year withdrawn and failing, telling Rachel at the end of the year. Melinda then decides that she needs to move on with her life. I think that the book relates to many teens, mostly girls. One way is that kids can can be very cruel to each other and do run in clicks. Another is that kids, sadly enough, are not close enough to parents, teachers or any other adult that they can talk to about their problems. I didn't like that her parents or teachers didn't see that their was more wrong. They just thought that she was being lazy. There were many silent signs that something drastic had taken place in Melinda's life. Everyone was to busy with their own life to see the signs. I think that the author could have made the ending of the book end so that it gave kids some information on what to do in case of a tradgety.
0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 Crazy, May 17, 2023
I don't mean to be imature, but this book was absolutely horrid. I mean who writes a book about some girl who was raped. We were ACTUALLY FORCED TO READ THIS BOOK IN
SCHOOL!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Speak Review, May 13, 2023
Speak is a strong book. I believe this book is more for girls as the trubbles she has are personal. This book shows alot of emotion and the power a girls will can have. I have rated it a five because the author uses great description and lots of personality with the main character.
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Based on 846 reviews.