Oh my I loved this book! The power of what goes on in the mind never ceases to amaze me. Laurie Halse Anderson gave words to the unspoken.

As a survivor of child abuse, I related to Melinda. What happens inside of our minds is often more painful than the originating event. Thinking no one will believe you or care if you tell them is a torture that Laurie Halse Anderson examines in depth.

Given an art project at the beginning of the year, I got to watch Melinda work through her pain and anguish piece by piece. She received help at times and knocked back at other times. In the end she found her voice and was able to begin the healing process.

This book could save the life of a victim of rape or abuse. That is powerful. ( )

This was a tough read and I never would have heard of it had it not been an assignment for my kid. There's nothing particularly graphic in the book but being a witness to Mel's feelings of despair and solitude were painful. ( )

I feel like this should be a mandatory read for everyone in middle school or high school. Or, just everyone. Anderson does a wonderful job of portraying the downward spiral of her main character--who has just been a victim of a rape. One of the most true-to-high-school, true-to-depression novels I've ever read. And if rape makes you uncomfortable or makes you think because it deals with a girl that this is too "girly" of a book for you, then all the more reason you should read it. ( )

This is an important subject to understand and sympathize with. However, I found Melinda's cynicism annoying. I had to take a break from the book for a while because her constantly make fun of people and things she doesn't understand made me angry. I understand why it makes sense in this book but her depression and making fun of people really brought me down. It was nice quick read through a depressing perspective I would not like to go through. But I guess I learned something, and this knowledge will hopefully allow me to sympathize better.
Also, can someone explain to me why she randomly, purposely, misspelled words. It was kind of random, jarring, and annoying. ( )

TW RAPE

Speak is a novel that means something very personal to me. The author managed to capture the pain and conflict that I felt myself as a sexual assault survivor. I saw myself in the Melinda and I saw the people I knew and grew up with in the other characters — including the man who assaulted her.

Reading this book felt therapeutic and healing to me. Melinda had so much more than just her voice taken away from her that night and watching her grow and trust herself into relearning how to use that voice to speak up for herself really allowed me the opportunity to do the same.

I truly believe this is a book that needs to be read by so many people, especially high school students so there can be conversations had about reaching out to people to see if they are in need of support and conversations had about sexual assault.

It’s not your fault. Never. Your voice will be heard ( )