Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

What a great book.

Did you know, before all this Twilight fandango began, Kristen Stewart (Bella) won an award acting the main character Melinda in the movie adaption of this book? And seeing how the book had won numerous awards and was on the freshman must-read list (yes, I do check those sometimes, just to keep track with the rest of the freshmen in the world) I thought, why not, the book looks straightforward enough for me to give a shot.

Being a frequent (and fast!) reader, I was able to finish the book in around an hour, awed. The characters were so vivid and lifelike I actually felt in line with the characters' thoughts- and I'm telling you, its pretty hard to do that. I first read the book over the summer but I do read it again from time to time and I know it will be one of those books that I will keep coming back to.

Enough about me. Now the book.

Melinda Sordino is a nervous and troubled freshman on her first day of high school- I'm sure we can all relate to that. On the bus to school, no one sits next to her. All her friends from junior high either abandon her in order to go join the 'cooler' tables, where the artists, jocks, nerds and computer whizzes are or move away from her. Melinda is soon labeled as a freak among her peers. Kids knock books out from her hands and 'accidentally' throw food at her.

As the story advances we are informed of why this happens. It turns out that there was a pre-school party at a friend's barn/farm, which most of the school, Melinda included, attended. It was in the party where she met Andy Evans, aka 'It', a rising senior. Taking advantage of her, Andy takes the drunk and confused Melinda into a secluded part of the woods and rapes her. After the rape, she calls 911 and reports the underage drinking, spoiling the party and even getting some of her friends arrested. She tells no one what happened to her in the following weeks and chooses instead to remain silent. As a result no one finds out about the rape.

Desperate for some friends, Melinda befriends a new girl, Heather who is the complete opposite of her- annoying, smart, preppy and chatty. Heather clings to Melinda until she gets accepted to a clique, the Marthas. She then comes to Melinda again after the Marthas set her an impossible task.

Melinda, who was a 'solid-B student' until before the rape, slowly begins to withdraw from her few friends and family. She also vows to remain silent. Studying is not an option for her any more- as a result her grades start to slide. She finds sole refuge in Mr. Freeman's art classes, where she has been assigned to master drawing a tree. Melinda finds comfort in this and it also allows her to slowly deal with her issues. This is what eventually helps her find her voice again.

As the year goes on she starts to get over the whole incident. Melinda gains back some of her former friends. When her former best friend Rachel starts dating Andy, Melinda tries to stop her but with no avail. Andy then finds out about this and tries to physically assault her, but Melinda breaks out of her shell at the last moment and fights him off. Rachel then acknowledges the truths and dumps Andy.

On the last day of semester Melinda gets an A+ for her art project. The book ends with Melinda pouring her heart out to Mr. Freeman.

This book, divided into four marking periods, was something I could actually relate to- not because of the theme but the way how it was set in such a familiar school background. It was different from other books I read and was a compelling read till the very last word. I highly recommend this book to those of you looking for something juicy to read after that Princess Diaries book. (eeek)