6/1/2023 0 Comments Speak anderson laurie halse![]() ![]() Speak was the 60th most banned book between 2000-2009 according to the ALA, usually on the basis of its depiction of underage drinking and sexual content. However, not everyone welcomed the depiction of adolescents dealing with such difficult subject matter. ![]() ![]() The novel won many awards – including becoming a finalist for the 1999 National Book Award and was on the American Library Association's (ALA) list of Best Books for Young Adults. Brave and honest, Speak began conversations about rape that had rarely occurred in public forums, and now the it is widely taught in classrooms, opening the door for conversations about sex and consent at younger ages. But 20 years later, it has sold millions of copies and been printed in 27 languages. Halse Anderson says that her editor tried to manage her expectations at the time of its release – maybe she would sell 3,000 copies in three years, and then the novel would go out of print. She almost completely stops speaking but begins to heal through a project for her art class. The police bust the house party, and Melinda is hated by all her classmates. She calls the police but is unable to verbalize what happened, leaving the scene before they arrive. Melinda Sordino, the protagonist, is raped the summer before her freshman year of high school at a house party. Released in 1999, Speak was Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel and also her most controversial. ![]()
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