Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak

Pros: good plot, easy-to-relate-to characters
Cons: short

This book was recommended to me by a library friend. I don't usually listen to people when they tell me what to read, usually because I've already read it, or because I like to decide for myself what I want to read, but, for some reason, I decided to ...

Pros: Realistic look at high school life, interesting character that you can relate to/sympathize with
Cons: Disappointing ending, loose ends not tied

This book perfectly embodied the tainted essence of high school life. It was realistic, believable, and incredibly easy for teenagers to relate to. The book catches the reader from the beginning (not a book that you have to "get into" before you enjoy it) and keeps them reading by sort of giving them an incentive- the real story of what happened to Melinda. Eventually we get this story, (after seeing blurred versions of it from rumors and vague references) and along the way we see the consequences of a simple, instinctual action. It shows how social hierarchies work in high schools, and exploits the damages that cliques and social groups can cause. In this book we explore the life of a social outcast, getting a very real look into how hard it is to "fit back in" to a society (in this case, a high school) once you've been shunned from it. Though the majority of the story was a wonderful read, I found the ending to be disappointing and dismally vague. I thought that loose ends could have been tied up much better, and that the final consequences could have been a bit more elaborated on/clear.

Pros: tells a good moral, fun to read, hard to stop reading
Cons: none

This book could help change someone's life. By telling them to speak up if they we're ever taken advantage of sexually. I mostly recommend this book to teens. This book is about a teenage girl who is having a hard time as it is fitting in at school, but she has a deep secret deep inside her. This secret claws around in her mind, she thinks she can get away from the evil past. But it keeps haunting her, then finally something amazing happens. This book gives a positive message to not only teenagers, but everyone. It shows that you can do anything, and speak up if something you so haunting has happened. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read, this book was hard for me to put down and stop reading.

Pros: A good book to educate teens on how to treat so-called out-casts.
Cons: The ending is too happily - ever - after.

This story starts out quite depressing! However, it does give people a good look into the possible life of their own high school out-cast. This story proves that you never know why people are the way they are. I'd suggest parents get this book for their teen girls who seem to talk about people who are different from them a lot. This book is in a way very educational, but readers need to beware:Not everyone gets justice in the end.

Pros: Very well written. Gotta love Melinda.
Cons: I am happy to say no cos, except author left us hanging

This book is about a girl named Melinda who is a freshman in Highschool and is outcasted by all of her eigth grade friends. During a party a month before her first year in highschool, she gets sexually abused by a upperclassmen who thinks he's all that. so she calls the cops to the party. The cops show up and arrest the people who are smoking, and drinking which is like everybody. For some reason the kids think she called the cops because she wanted everybody to get in trouble. So her friends outcast her right before her Freshman year in highschool. She has nobody but a bratty friend who wants to be friends with evertbody. Throught the book Melinda tries to find the strength to Speak.

Pros: *Melinda is sarcastic, in a funny way. *Anderson did a magnificent job writing this book
Cons: *Sad parts

Although morose (considering it's based on a rape incident), Melinda Sordino (the main character) makes some funny remarks in this book. I like how Anderson created this character and how she wrote this book all together. It's a mixture of darkness & humor.

Pros: Can help a young girl cope with life alot better.
Cons: So boring I wanted to pull my eyelids off.

My friend recommended this book to me and I ended up giving it to my teacher. I was so upset that I payed for that book. The book just didn't keep my attention at all. It was a good book for what it's worth, just not something that I would recommend to anyone, it wasn't outstanding! I think this book is more for the younger generation. I can see a sixteen year old reading this book. I definetly will not read this book again. And I know they try to make it seem like High School now a days, but truthfully it's not, and I think that's what makes me dislike it more. I'm not saying that those things couldn't happen, just that's not what it's like in High School anymore. Overall no, I did not think this was a good book and I don't recommend it.