Speak in Around the World in 80 Books

May 24, 2010 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: xx-2010-xx

3.75 stars. There were times when her writing really sparkled. And, considering the topic this book addresses, I think she did a very good job of writing a book to speak to the needs of middle and high school students. But there were times for me when the writing fell kind of flat. It definitely kept me interested, and there were more than a few nuggets of awesome, so almost a 4 for me.

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Jan 22, 2009 Nanosynergy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009read, reviewed, youngadult-children, saw-the-movie-tvshow

Speak deals with a mature theme - rape of a 13 year old girl by an older teenage boy. Predictable from the mention of the drunken high school party, but perhaps this is not obvious to the teenagers for whom this book was written.

The book has a didactic goal and an obvious tree motif. I applaud the goal, but find the implementation flawed. I also find it hard to believe that savvy teenagers aren't rolling there eyes over the heavy tree imagery mumbling, "I get it, I get it already."

Melinda's resp Speak deals with a mature theme - rape of a 13 year old girl by an older teenage boy. Predictable from the mention of the drunken high school party, but perhaps this is not obvious to the teenagers for whom this book was written.

The book has a didactic goal and an obvious tree motif. I applaud the goal, but find the implementation flawed. I also find it hard to believe that savvy teenagers aren't rolling there eyes over the heavy tree imagery mumbling, "I get it, I get it already."

Melinda's response to the rape seems plausible, but the milieu a stretch of disbelief. She tells no one about being raped, but instead clearly speaks up by opting to fail her freshman year of classes. She is clearly traumatized by something, but none of the adults in her life (except perhaps the art teacher) hear her unspoken cry for help. I assumed from Melinda's witty, sarcastic life observations that she was a bright student. However, if I were to judge by the adults' lackluster responses, it appeared she had a history of poor grades and attitude. But the book does not clarify her prior normal academic performance. If, indeed, she had no history of poor academic performance, the school counselors, teachers and her parents, failure to catch on throughout an entire school year is incompetence and negligence.

The ending is satisfying from a justice standpoint, but a little too pat. In real life, Melinda most likely would not have had this closure. I was dissatisfied that there was no discussion of a medical examination, legal assistance, or counseling.

Melinda's options for friends appeared strangely limited. She apparently has only two - Rachel and Ivy. Additionally, Melinda's ostracism seemed too long lasting and broad to be believable. But I guess if you only have two friends and those friends drop you, you are indeed alone.

Finally, I have grown very weary of high school populations being represented in young adult books as being so easily segregated into various cliche cliques with the loser fringes. At least Anderson spiced it up with a few new group types.

I give Speak 3 stars because I liked Melinda's witty inner dialogue and observations. I also applaud the author for her attempt to deal with the impact of this difficult, ugly topic. ...more

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Sep 04, 2017 Jean-Marie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, realistic-fiction

I think Laurie Halse Anderson (Seeds of America series, The Impossible Knife of Memory) is one of the better youth literature authors of our time. Her writing is superb. She manages to turn poignant, controversial, and taboo themes into stories of determination and hope for young readers. Although this book was published nearly 20 years ago, it is just as topical today as it was then. David Petrakis challenging Mr. Neck's thoughts on immigration in social studies class could be happening in any ...more

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Oct 02, 2010 Jenifer rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary-fiction

Honestly, it took me a while to get into the author's style of writing but once I did, the book was quite good. I think this is an important book for late tweens/teens to read and will have my daughter read it when she enters 7th or 8th grade.

I was happy with the ending but would have liked to see a little more of the consequences that "IT" faced in the end. ...more

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Jul 12, 2008 Joseph rated it it was amazing

Shelves: autographed-copy, best-5-star-nonseries-fiction, best, young-adult, best-of-1999, reread, read-in-2010-09-september, recommend-to-ys, ya-book-talk, realistic

All I can say is OH WOW! This book was utterly amazing, I was unable to put it down until I finished it. Reading it can literally leave you speechless. A must read.

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