Speak: a graphic novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Illustrated by Emily Carroll. 384 p. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, February, 2018. 978037400289. (Review from copy borrowed from public library.)
Teen Tuesday features Speak: a graphic novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Illustrated by Emily Carroll. The novel, Speak, was published nearly twenty years ago, in 1999. It won a Printz Honor. I recall saying to a colleague, "This should be required reading for every rising eighth grader, boys and girls, before heading to high school." Since then, I have reread it several times and find it just as (sadly) relevant and powerful.
Melinda has lost her voice after an awful attack at a big high school summer bash. She starts her freshman year as an outcast because she called the police, not to bust up the party, but to report the attack. She could not speak of it - not to the police, her parents or her best friends.
Laurie Halse Anderson reworked her novel to accommodate the graphic novel format and updated it to reflect the technology that wasn't available back then. Emily Carroll's haunting black and white illustrations depict Melinda's isolation and loneliness.
When Speak: a graphic novel published, I was out of budget money.Speak: a graphic novel will join her sister, Speak at TMS in the fall. Both are must-reads for teens.
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.
Thornhill by Pam Smy. 544 p. Roaring Brook Press, August, 2017. 9781626726543. (Review from purchased finished copy)
If you enjoy graphic novel hybrids or gothic horror, check out our Teen Tuesday feature. Thornhill by Pam Smy. Two stories are told in this debut, one in pictures and one in prose. The pictures take place in the present time and the prose is the diary of a girl who resided at Thornhill back in the days when it was an orphanage. It's a boarded up dilapidated wreck now but Ella, who has just moved in across the street spies a girl in the upstairs window and, because she is lonely, investigates.
This one is dark, creepy and disturbing. Dread grows as the diary entries unfold and the visual story is equally suspenseful, helped along by the tones of black and shadows. Atmospheric and a perfect choice to lure a dormant reader.
