So this past week, I read a book that had been on my "To-Read" shelves forever. I always avoided this book because I don't usually like to read realistic YA fiction in fear that it will influence things I'm working on. But given that I had to read one for class, I figured it was high time I read this and I could kick myself for not reading it sooner because I absolutely loved it. What a wonderful book! Enjoy.
(Penguin, 1999)
Silence suffocates Melinda as she begins her Freshman year at Merryweather High. Isolated by her friends and despised by upperclassmen for breaking up an end-of-summer party, Melinda begins what are supposed to be the best years of her of life as a complete outcast. Part of her believes that things could be different if people only knew the horrible secret of that night at the party when she called the police, but a louder part of her fears that nobody will believe her...so she remains silent. As the school year progresses, Melinda's problems grow. Her grades suffer, her family life becomes more a struggle, and she worries that her secret will eventually drive her to madness. But just like the seeds she studies in Biology and the trees she attempts to create in Art class, growth is inevitable and Melinda finds her voice when she needs it most.
On the surface, Speak is the story of a victim. Melinda is the victim of a horrific crime and a victim of social banishment, but she is more than just a victim. She is an intelligent, compassionate, and courageous young woman that the reader gets to meet thanks to the confessional tone of the writing. Her outsider perspective allows her to identify the absurdity of high school, which she relates in many hysterical observations. The character refuses to be defined by what has happened to her, and likewise the book refuses to be defined as a novel about rape.
Ultimately satisfying and poignant! One of those rare novels that brought to me to tears.
On the surface, Speak is the story of a victim. Melinda is the victim of a horrific crime and a victim of social banishment, but she is more than just a victim. She is an intelligent, compassionate, and courageous young woman that the reader gets to meet thanks to the confessional tone of the writing. Her outsider perspective allows her to identify the absurdity of high school, which she relates in many hysterical observations. The character refuses to be defined by what has happened to her, and likewise the book refuses to be defined as a novel about rape.
Ultimately satisfying and poignant! One of those rare novels that brought to me to tears.
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