This book has been reviewed extensively in the blogosphere and that is where I first stumbled over it. "Speak" is written by Laurie Halse Anderson and published in 1999 and it has even been made into a movie starring Kristin Stewart as Melinda - the main character.
Melinda is starting her freshman year in highschool in the worst way possible. Something happened at a party during the summer, something which Melinda cannot think about not to mention talk about.
So Melinda has gone from being part of a gang of girls to being a social outcast. Her only friend is new-in-town Heather who have ambitious plans for how they will become part of the social scene at the shool. However, Melinda is slowly spiralling into a depression and she has no interest in social ladder climbing. Instead she locks herself in - both physically and mentally - and the only subject in school that she has any interest in is art. Art class is a free space and the teacher Mr. Freeman supports and encourages her but even this in time becomes unbearable for Melinda who shies away from the world, skips classes and withdraws from the parents and Heather.
"Speak" deals with an incredibly difficult subject - daterape - and it has been one censured in some countries for its outspokenness and honesty. In my opinion this is a book that all girls should read when they become teenagers because it is so absolutely honest, heartbreakingly so. It is a story of all of the difficulties that an emotionally incompetent young man puts an innocent young woman through. It touched me and even gave me tears in my eyes. It is beautiful and Melinda is a sweet, good, clever girl who when she is confronted with evil tries to protect herself as well as she can. I will read this book again and I will recommend it to anyone who likes a good book about being teenager.
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