Citation: Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. Square Fish/Farrar Straus Giroux.
Content Warning: rape/sexual assault, self-harm, bullying, suicidal ideation.
For some people, high school is amazing, and, for others it is, frankly, the worst experience of their lives. Melinda Sordino has just started high school. After attending a party over the summer, her world has been turned upside down. Melinda had been raped at the party, but, before she could even think of the words to tell her friends what had happened, she is made friendless and an outcast for having called the cops to the party. Facing the severe reaction of her friends and others in her year, Melinda retreats within herself until she no longer speaks to anyone, even her family. Speak is a heartbreaking candid tale of what it is like to deal with trauma when no one seems to want to listen.
This continues to be one of my favourite books for how it captures the thoughts of dealing with something so big that you don’t know how to put it into words, and for its realistic look at how tough being a teenager can be.
Check out our other review of Speak here.