Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Penguin Group, 1999. Print.Annotation: “We fall into clans: Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, Shredders. I am clanless…I am Outcast.” Unlike the beginning of previous school years, Melinda Sordina enters her freshman year hated and alone. If only she could explain, but she is afraid to speak.
Justification for Nomination: Anderson masterfully presents the young adult reader with a fictional character who no doubt could walk the hall of any high school. Unwilling and emotionally unable to share her story with anyone else, Melinda slowly reveals her dark secret to the reader. Life has served her an unkind turn, an experience no one should ever have to endure. Now she is left to deal the personal and social difficulties that have resulted. Bit by bit, the reader learns through Melinda's inner monologue about the incident at the end of the summer that has created Melinda's grief. The reader meets her parents, her teachers, and her peers. Although most young adult readers have not shared Melinda's experience, they have shared her feelings and are intrigued by and emotionally connected to Melinda's world of hurt and isolation and her retreat from society. They understand her silence and wait optimistically for the healing that will allow Melinda to once again speak.
I wholeheartedly nominate this book as a truly excellent literary work. Anderson captures the heart of the emotionally and psychologically hurting young woman and draws her readers into the process of self-awareness and intellectual freedom that Melinda experiences in the end. This book is a growth experience that demands discussion.
Genre: Realistic/"Edgy"/Problem Novel
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