#190 in Young adult
Speak
- 219
- Pages
- about 4 h
- Reading time
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About the book
Speak, published in 1999, is a young adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson that tells the story of high school freshman Melinda Sordino. After Melinda is raped at an end of summer party, she calls the police, who break up the party. Melinda is then ostracized by her peers because she will not say why she called the police. Unable to verbalize what happened, Melinda nearly stops speaking altogether, expressing her voice through the art she produces for Mr. Freeman's class. This expression slowly helps Melinda acknowledge what happened, face her problems, and recreate her identity.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 614 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 80% of the weight and the score stays at 7.9 — the Young adult average of 7.8 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.9 | 99 | 16% |
| Hardcover | 7.9 | 515 | 84% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“I liked Melinda's snarky and sarcastic narration, but other than that, this book really wasn't for me. I think it has quite a lot to do with the fact that I expected more, mostly due to other more raving reviews and the book's placement on…”
“It was amazing! I can't wait to read more of Laurie's books! 1) The emotions conveyed in this book is so powerful and wonderful, mostly because the conversations in volving Melinda are so limited 2) I loved Melinda, David, and Mr. Freeman 3) The character…”
Frequently asked
What age is Speak for?
Speak sits on the Young adult shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 13 and up. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 219 pages — shorter than 96% of the ranked books in Young adult.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Young adult — and a score of 7.9, the closest to this book.
