Book Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Two or so years ago, a friend recommended that I read the book entitled Speak. I added it to my Goodreads List and just now got around to it. I listened to it on audiobook in the car during my ridiculous commutes to and from work.

My reviews are based only on my own opinions and this may contain spoilers. To check out more of what I am reading, take a look at my Goodreads widget in the sidebar.

Melinda is a brand-new Freshmen entering high school. She has no friends, no one to talk to, no one to sit with at the lunch table. The thing is, Melinda is entering school with all her friends, and the people she has gone to school with for a long time. Something happened over the summer that causes all of her friends to shun her, people to throw things at her, call her names, and knock her books out of her arms. She becomes and introvert. She refuses to speak to her parents, she hides her body with huge, ill-fitting clothes, she starts to skip class and subsequently starts failing. She finds a safe haven for herself inside an old, abandoned janitorial closet in her school and goes there when she needs to escape it all, which is often. Eventually, she starts skipping classes altogether.

Halfway through the book we learn her secret, and then it all makes sense. Melinda starts to become tired of her new self, and wants to work towards becoming the person she used to be, but she has to realize how to grow a person, as if a seed, among so much hurt and anger.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good, quick read. This is a YA novel.