Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

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


*~*~*

This is the second Laurie Halse Anderson book I've read now, and I have to applaud her on her ability to tackle the hard issues and not shy away from other things books may not want to talk about, i.e. Depression, eating disorders, rape and other things that are unfortunately in some Teens lives.

Melinda is starting her first day of high school, and non of her friends are talking to her. As the book unfolds you find out more and more why her friends arn't talking to her and what occured over the summer to make this happen.  Melinda also doesn't speak much through the novel, you read everything from her perspective and she very rarely says anything. 

If I'm honest...I worked out what happened pretty pretty quickly and did feel it was a little drawn out to the "big reveal" of what happened. But the way Anderson writes from the mind of a teenager couldnt help but draw me in to her life and her story. Many teenagers would relate to how Melinda feels being an outcast and all the small things running through her head, I have to say, have run through my head at least once point in my life. At the start she begins to worry what sort of bag do you bring your lunch in on the first day to dealing with avoiding ex-friends. 

You begin to really feel for Melinda, and as the book unfolds you can see where her heart lies and that she is not speaking as she feels no-one really cares what she has to say regarding the event or they don't believe her. 

It's easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.

I advise this book for a lot of different people, there are some scenes which may affect different people so be careful... Apologies for the really bad pun but there is no other way to put it but the book really spoke to me on different levels!