The Danger of Silence

Speak 
By Laurie Halse Anderson 
YA Realistic Fiction

"Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't know hate her from a distance. It's no use explaining to her parents; they've never known what her life is really like. The safest place is for Melinda is to be alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. 

"Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she admitted it and let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have no choice. 

"Melinda would have to speak the truth." 

I've never been much into realistic fiction because who would want to read about real life, when you can read about dragons, mermaids, and time travel? But I heard great things about this book, so I gave it a go. And I'm SO glad that I did! This book was exceptionally-well written about a hard topic that is often glazed over. 

The main subject in the book (which I won't give away) has the tendency to be depressing, and the book was at times, but Melinda's sardonic humor mitigated the somber feelings. Sometimes I even laughed out loud. Anderson, the author, did a wonderful job of leaping into a high schooler's brain and describing the tedious, difficult world of a high schooler from her opinionated perspective. Anderson handled the delicate balance between melancholy and humor magnificently, while remaining true to her point. 

The symbolism woven throughout the novel also helps deepen the story line and shows how Melinda changes. It was neat to see her healing, or lack thereof, in a tangible way. I love symbols, but I'm an English nerd, so I guess that's to be expected. But they add so many layers and meaning to the story, when done well, and these symbols were written expertly. 

The themes of silence, being rejected, the self-centered world of high school (and the world in general) were not too conspicuous and hit truth spot-on. Good job, Anderson, for speaking out about important, often pushed-away matters, and doing so in a gentle, loving way! 

It's probably obvious, but this book definitely deserves a five at minimum. It's appropriate for fifteen year olds and older, though you might want to check me on that (especially if you're a mom reading this). 

What I learned: We must give people time and space to speak and to truly listen. Our thoughts and words are always worth sharing (sometimes it just takes a while to find out who that 'safe' person is!).