Speak

Secrets are not always easy to keep. They can eat away at you and slowly take over your mind, body, and soul until it consumes your every thought and movement. No, secrets are definitely not good to keep. . .

Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak is all about one gigantic secret kept by Melinda Sordino, the quiet, antisocial girl in school.

After a classic, parents-out-of-town summer party, Melinda's world is turned upside down and muted. The party starts to get out of control for her, and all she can think of doing is calling the cops. Unfortunately, everyone at the party shuns her for ruining it, including her very best friends. Melinda becomes the outcast.

Now, it's the first day of high school and instead of having new friends, all Melinda has are some new pencils and notebooks. Not even her old friends speak to her anymore.

Although she doesn't mind being alone, her thoughts haunt her. They take her back to that night at the party where her deep, dark secret still remains.

So when a new girl comes to school and latches herself onto Melinda, she feels a little bit grateful to finally have a friend. But her new friend discovers Melinda's "status" in high school and feels that it's best if they aren't friends after all, for the sake of her reputation, of course. Once again Miss Sordino is alone.

Being alone is not the end of the world, but she needs a way to release her emotions somehow. The secret almost burns through her skin on some days. When the art teacher suggests that she use art to liberate her feelings, Melinda finds this is a fairly good strategy.

But even as she purges her emotions, her secret continues to follow her. . .

Speak is an excellent novel about speaking up for yourself and what you believe is right, even if it's the hardest thing you ever have to do. Exceptionally well written, this book is full of typical high school drama and daunting trauma that is so real, readers actually feel with the leading lady, Melinda. Her story is so memorable and this book is defintely a great read for high school students and anyone else who has ever kept a secret.