SPEAK book review by Angel B.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a 13 year old girl named Melinda entering Merryweather High School who gets raped by one of the upper classman. She wanted to be popular and her best friends older sister was in high school , therefore Melinda goes to all these parties with her best friends sister. Summer comes around and high school classmates throw a huge party. Melinda wanted to fit in so she started joining in on drinking. One of the upperclassman, started to talk to Melinda and he ends up taking advantage of her. A huge controversy breaks out between other students because Melinda speaks out about the rape. The story line continues to explain Melinda’s bad experiences, so she speaks to help her best friend who is later in danger.
First thing I liked about this book was how realistic it was and explains experiences like this and it shows how much courage it takes for these people who got raped to speak out. It’s hard to imagine how somebody can keep everything in without saying a word for a great deal of time. Imagine how much pain and suffering you go through? An example of this is when Melinda has to go to a janitor’s room just to think straight.
The second thing I liked was how it was relating to high school students. That getting raped can happen to anyone of any age. You must always think before drinking something at a friends hang out or party of any sort because you never know what is in it. I’ve heard of many situations just like this all over the news but this book really narrows down a lot of information that’s really gets you thinking.
The third thing I liked was how Melinda actually spoke out about what happened to her. Many people who find themselves in this position don’t talk about it ever or say a single word about because they’re scared of what people might say or just to traumatized. An example of this was when Melinda didn’t say anything because she was scared that people wouldn’t believe her and they didn’t at first but she still kept her head up and didn’t hold back that must take a lot of courage
I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend to high school students. Its very realistic to real world situations and keeps you focused reading as soon as you glaze your eyes on it. I hope you really look forward to reading this book you wont regret it.
