SHOUT: a poetry memoir by Laurie Halse Anderson. 290 p. Viking/ Penguin Young Readers Group, March 19, 2019. 9780670012107. (Review from arc courtesy of publisher.)
It's always a big deal when Laurie Halse Anderson has a new book out. This memoir will be published in March, around the twentieth anniversary of her Printz Honor winning, National Book Award Finalist, Speak. I read Speak when I was new to school librarianship and before I was blogging. I distinctly recall my telling anyone who would listen that it should be required reading for all rising eighth graders and their parents and teachers. It was raw. It was true. It was groundbreaking. It was needed.
Unfortunately, it is still needed as little has changed in the twenty years. Speak was somewhat unintentionally autobiographical, something Anderson was willing to keep quiet about. Until. Until she started speaking to thousands of teens all over the United States. She'd avoid answering the question about whether it had ever happened to her. Until she didn't. She respects her audience too much.
So she shared, and, eventually SHOUT was born. Boy, do we need SHOUT! It is raw. It is true. It is groundbreaking. It most definitely is needed. I have heard Anderson speak on a variety of subjects over the years. She is a passionate truth teller and caller outer, whether it's about racism, PTSD, mental health issues or sexual assault. Her words are beautifully angry and inspiring.
Read Speak. Read Shout. Get angry and do a little SHOUTING yourself.
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