Nostalgic Friday: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

Today I'm featuring Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. This was one of the best books I read for pleasure in middle school. It's hard to believe it has been out for 10 years already. Am I really that old?

Anyway, the story is about quiet high school freshman Melinda and her struggle to face her situation. Her parents pretty much ignore her existence, communicating mostly through notes left behind. She is an outcast at school and doesn't really fit in with anyone. Especially since that night. The night she called the police to the big senior party right before school started was the end of her existence as she knew it. She called about underage drinking, but really it was just to get the party broken up after an upperclassmen took advantage of her while she was inebriated.

Now facing social pariah-hood, Melinda withdraws into herself. She sleeps a lot and avoids any situation that makes her anxious. While she maintains decent grades, her true love lies in art class where she is free to express herself. Eventually the truth of that night comes out when she tries to rescue her former best friend from dating Melinda's rapist. The fiasco that ensues and the ending will break your heart with emotions.

A meaningful and deep read, Speak was the start of Anderson's ability to tackle such difficult, but real subject matter. Date rape is an all-too-frequent occurrence in today's society and Anderson managed to portray, no just the victim's experience, but the way that experience affected the whole community. The characters are real, emotionally charged, and feel like someone you know. Melinda in an amazing character to get to know and as you read the story, you really begin to understand and participate in her rollercoaster ride of emotions and feelings.

Speak sheds light on a sensitive subject with delicate care and helped readers see the many facets of this unspeakable event. While it obviously deals with difficult subject matter, this book is great reading for older middle schoolers and high schoolers alike. If you like this book, be sure to check out her other books like Wintergirls or Twisted.

Nostalgic Friday: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Lia and Cassie are the best of friends. Having met as young children, they grew up together. Through thick and thin they were always inseparable. That is until being thin became the most important thing to them.

Cassie is bulimic: binging and then purging all that she consumes. Lia has more restraint than that, she is anorexic. Both of the girls help each other stay strong and keep their weight down. After a car wreck caused by the havoc Lia caused to her body, she is sent to a treatment facility and Cassie stops talking to her. Over six months Lia fights to stay in control of her weight, despite everyone else's best efforts to the contrary and she longs for Cassie to come back into her life.

Until Cassie shows up dead in a motel room, where she died alone. Confronted with the terrifying reality that her up-until-recently best friend is now dead, Lia struggles to define herself and what she really wants. Does she want to kill herself or is there something else creeping inside her that she wants to kill?

An open-eyed, very true account of what many teenagers all over the country face, Laurie Halse Anderson has again taken a very prevalent issue in contemporary society and turned into an opportunity to learn. Without glorifying the characters' actions, the author follows the train of thought of an eating disorder victim and explores some of the lesser known evils that can accompany them. Riveting and chilling, Wintergirls is a book well worth reading and passing it along.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Bringing in the Loot

This week I hit the book jackpot between winning a book, receiving my first ARC, my holds came in at the library, and I bought myself some birthday books. Hooray for birthdays!

The top row is loot from the library and when it rains, it pours.

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange, The Immortals: Evermore by Alyson Noel, Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Ring of Fire by Pierdomenico Baccalario is an ARC I received.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier I won in a contest over on Book Divas.

So it looks like I will be a busy little blogger for at least the next few weeks. Also, Adriana Trigiani will be in town next Friday to promote her new book Viola in Reel Life so stay tuned for that update!

Bringing in the Loot