This week I read a book called "Speak" by Lauren Halse Anderson. Speak is the story about a girl named Melinda Sordino. Melinda isn't like most girls, she has trouble adjusting to high school when her friends stop talking to her and she becomes the outcast of school. But her life didn't suddenly change from one day to the next. One summer night Melinda was at the wrong place very drunk and ended up getting raped. Being scared of the consequences this would bring her and the boy; she never told anyone her story. Her freshmen year was miserable, until the last grading period when she couldn't hold it in anymore and finally told one of her teachers what had happened.
I absolutely loved this book. I think what made this book so good was that it was written by someone that's had this experience. So when you read the book it felt real, it didnt seem like just another story. You felt what Melinda felt, you were frightened when she was scared to death, you cried when she cried. I also gained a lot of respect for the author because remembering those times and being able to share it with the whole world takes a lot of guts. The author used chronological order, writing the book from the first marking period to the last. Along the way she would include flashbacks of the night when Melinda got raped. When
the author wrote this story I believe she wrote it to not only entertain but to
raise awareness. She wanted to make sure people knew that these types of things could happen to anyone at any time, and it’s not something to take lightly.
