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 : Speak

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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780142407325
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0142407321
Label: Puffin
Manufacturer: Puffin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: April 20, 2006
Publisher: Puffin
Reading Level: Young Adult
Studio: Puffin




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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
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...

Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

Book Description:
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.

Awards for Speak

A 2000 Printz Honor Book
A 1999 National Book Award Finalist
An Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist
A 1999 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
Winner of the SCBWI Golden Kite Award
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Quick Pick
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Top Ten First Novel of 1999
A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare Title



Customer Reviews
Average Rating:  out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Excellent read
I first became interested in the book after seeing the film adaptation of it on TV one day as I was flipping through the channels. The character of Melinda Sordino was captivating. Soon afterwards, I bought Speak and read it in one sitting.

Although this is labeled as a YA novel, I'm an adult woman and thoroughly enjoyed the novel. Anderson has written a completely realistic, heart-breaking, inspiring and at times funny portrayal of high school. Melinda is a character I could become ... Read More



Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Speak
Speak is a good book that deals with a young girl who has been raped, but she doesnt tell anyone what has happened to her. she is an outcast at her highschool, and is depressed.

Speak is written well but its depressing...although, the end is very good, i liked that.



Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - ok purchase
the price was great and the story itself was ok. it's another look at pressures placed on girls during high school



Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Juvenile and poorly written
Hmm.... what to say, what to say....
Okay- Speak.
The plot sucked and the character was obnoxiously TYPICAL - or rather, what an adult who doesn't know thinks a teenager is.
I thought that this book would be a real great story about being alone, being solitary, and depression. I was wrong. It was "oh I'm not popular, woe is me" type things, and the whole story about the rape is unreal and just blah.
The main character lacked any real depth no matter how hard the author tried ... Read More



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - This has meaning. Pain.
My mom found this book on a plane. Someone left it there perhaps accidently as they were gathering up their suitcases, or as I prefer to believe, because they finished reading it and wanted others to read about it. That's why I love books so much they are meant to be read, shared, enjoyed. My mom read it and then gave it to me to read. I may leave the book on a park bench or on the beach.

This book reads easy but that does not at all imply that this is a simple book. On the contrary, Anderson ... Read More







 






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