Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

• This book was absolutely phenomenal. It's about a girl entering her first year of high school with a big secret. She called the cops on a party during the summer, and now everyone hates her. What they don't know is why she called the cops. Throughout the book, you endure the cruel realities of high school with Melinda Sordino, the character we all come to know and love. She becomes mute, and though she cannot communicate with spoken words, she releases her thoughts and emotions into her art. Anderson tells the story so effectively that the readers can literally feel Melinda's depression nagging at their hearts. Whatever Melinda feels, the reader truly feels it themselves. I had my doubts about this book, but the end left me completely breathless, words of emotion threatening to spill from my lips. If there is one thing I can assure you, it is that Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson will change your outlook on life forever.

At least for me.