Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

            Everybody despises your very existence. They try to stay as remotely away from you as humanly possible. Nobody wants to be seen with you. Nobody wants to be seen around you. You are isolated. You are an outcast. Would you be able to handle that? Imagine this every single moment, of every single hour, of every single day. Maybe you had a friend or two, maybe even a clique of friends at one point in your life, but they all vanished before your very eyes. This is Melinda’s world. A world without advocates; almost everyone detests her. One where her words can’t seem to leave her mouth no matter how many attempts she constructs; her apprehensions and perturbations are bottled up so securely that nobody can see them clearly. She’s beguiled in a dark gloomy room, where a secret so gigantic lies, and yet nobody sees it. Would you make it through? A girl can sure try her hardest.

          Speak is a stupendous, well-written novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Throughout the entire novel you can feel the exact emotions rushing through the body of an outcast with a chancy secret from her past. The novel touches on both of these types of world rolled up into one person. It's a perplexing insight into the two worlds. It's an intriguing page-turner. It proves it’s possible to overcome anything despite the odds you may encounter. The tale keeps you on the edge of your seat and becomes extremely irksome to put down. I am highly fond of this book and suggest you read it because you will be too.

Cassie R.

Miss Heater