Speak [Hardcover]

Laurie Halse Anderson (Author), Mandy Siegfried (Narrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Listening Library (January 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307260305
• ISBN-13: 978-0307260307
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,257 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Laurie Halse (rhymes with "waltz") Anderson pretended she was a polar bear when she walked to school through the snow of Syracuse, New York. As a little girl, she would pound away at her father's old typewriter for hours, writing newspaper columns, stories, and letters. She loved watching her father write poetry and reading the funnies on the floor of his office. Laurie fell in love with words when her second-grade teacher taught her how to write haiku. Her favorite book is the dictionary, which is a good thing because she is a terrible speller. She tried to read every book in her school library, a heavenly place. She loves librarians! One of her favorite books was Heidi. This led to curiosity about foreign cultures. As a senior in high school, she was an American Field Service exchange student to Denmark, where she lived on a pig farm. She skipped both her prom and graduation ceremonies and had a great time there. She can still speak Danish.

Laurie Halse Anderson never intended to be an author. At Georgetown University, she majored in foreign languages and linguistics. She hit the real world with no idea of what kind of work she wanted to do. She tried everything, including cleaning banks, milking cows and working as a stockbroker. She hated all of it. Working as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer was a slight improvement, but she eventually quit to write books. After eight long, rejection-filled years, she has finally qualified as an overnight success.

Laurie's books for children and teenagers have attracted a lot of attention. Her first novel, Speak, was a National Book Award Finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor book, a New York Times bestseller, and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Publisher's Weekly, called Speak "a stunning first novel," in which Ms. Anderson "uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager." Speak has been translated into sixteen foreign languages, including Chinese and Catalan. In 2005, the movie version was released. In addition to novels, Laurie writes chapter books for elementary age children and picture books for the pre-school set. She received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, given by the American Library Association for significant and lasting achievement in young adult literature, in 2009.

Laurie lives in Northern New York with her husband, Scot, and their dog, Kezzie. Scot designed and built a writing cottage for Laurie, where she writes daily. Along with writing, she enjoys gardening, running and hanging with her family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

140 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Silent no longer, February 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Speak (Hardcover)

This book is definitely one of my favorites. It's so different from anything I have ever read, the style, the tone, and the way it was written. It was a compelling read from the beginning to the end.

The story is not written as your average outcast "popular people are stupid" cliche. It's an original. The tone is like Melinda is just relaying her thoughts and what she sees to the reader, rather than her feelings and rage and anger against the people that hurt her. Her character gets stronger as you read on, as she begins to stand up for herself.

I liked how the author didn't just tell you what had happened to Melinda in order for her to stay so silent - instead, bits of the incident unfolds as you read along.

I was caught up in Melinda's world, and even though I'm glad to say that I haven't been there and done that, it was easy to just recognize the pain, fear and confusion she went through just because the author doesn't say it right out.

Overall, an excellent read and I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to feel the triumph of "Speak".

110 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book all teens should read, May 1, 2006

By 

Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Speak (Hardcover)

Melinda Sordino, a student with good grades and great friends, has made some mistakes. At the end of a summer party she calls the cops, yet when they arrive she doesn't tell them anything. Back at school the next year, her friends won't speak to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her as the fink who wrecked everybody's party, and her grades start dropping. Her relationship with her parents deteriorates quickly. She becomes sullen, and withdrawn. However this picture is not the whole story.

Her parents know something is wrong but cannot get her to open up. Her only hope is her art teacher; he realizes something is very wrong and through the assignments he gives her tries to draw her out.

This is a story of a girl who is abused, and who doesn't know how to talk about it, but in keeping it inside she is self -destructing. Can Melinda find her voice and speak of her sorrow, or will her silence destroy her?

103 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good book for TEEN readers and Adults, July 28, 2003

By 

Jarrod T Thompson "Young Adult Author" (Junction City, KS) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Speak (Paperback)

All Teens should read this book. Peer pressure does a lot of bad things, one of those things is convincing victims to feel like they have done something wrong.

Speak is a fast-paced read that involves the reader emotionally from the very start. Speak is an accurate portrayal of the very common existence of high school cruelty and peer pressure. Every reader should identify with most of what happens in this novel, no matter what their age.

You will get mad at the good characters as well as the bad. I found myself talking out loud to the characters, which is why I know the book involves you.

Speak passes my Young Adult novel test. The book allows you to read without wanting to put it down, and it flows straight to ending. Laurie Halse Anderson has written a book that will be around for a very long time.