#tbt: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. 208 p. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October, 1999. 9780374371524. (Own.)

Our Teen Tuesday feature is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Speak should probably be required reading for all eighth grade students as they leave middle school. It was Anderson's YA debut. It was a National Book Award Finalist and won a Printz Honor. It is a diary of sorts, narrated by Melinda Sordino. The book is divided into marking periods. Melinda starts her freshman year as an outcast because of what happened at a senior party during the summer. Yes, she did call the police but not to bust the party. She just can't bring herself to explain what happened. Instead, she has stopped speaking. The narrative is a bit fractured as Melinda struggles to confront her trauma, but gripping from page one. The story was recently turned into a graphic novel.