Christina's Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Amazon: Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

I've heard great things about this 10 year old book by Laurie Halse Anderson and finally Susie sent me a copy to read for myself. Seems like books without chapters in them (divided rather by day/content/event) are coming into style, and I'm follow suit with my upcoming book, Imaginary Lives. As for Speak, I enjoyed the lead character's style: very blunt and honest. The mood was portrayed perfectly, allowing us to only know the other people according to Melinda's view of them. Her teachers were referred to by nicknames rather than real names half the time. Her days were recorded only as important in her eyes and in the way people treated her due to the "incident" the previous summer.

The one thing I disliked about the book was Melinda's extreme negativity about the "incident" when i felt that she should have talked to people rather than keeping it a secret. I suppose this is an example of a typical teenager, who feels so strongly that no one will listen or understand that they decide its better to simply keep it quiet. However, this only pushed her further away from those around her, leaving Melinda hurt and disconnected all the time. I wish she'd learned faster how to cope. But I suppose that was the point of the book!

I know this is a brief description, but overall, I enjoyed the simple writing style and the mood setting. I loved the art teacher, although he was still a little one-dimensional. I did take the style of the book and apply it to my own story, so it wasn't all bad. I do, however, wish that Melinda and some of the other characters had a little more depth.

Overall, I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

Christina