Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an outcast at your school? In Laurie Halse Anderson’s realistic fiction book, Speak, it follows a story of the protagonist Melinda, a freshman in high school, who faces the troubles of being her schools “outcast.” Melinda has to continue through her school and home life while struggling with thoughts of self-doubt. Melinda loses her only two friends, Rachel and Heather, as they decide to dump Melinda and go hang out with the popular kids. As Melinda struggles with the thought of losing her only friends, she also continues to get a constant reminder of IT: a traumatic experience she had to go through. 

I think that this book is a powerful book to read if you are interested in reading about school life and friendship. Anderson did a wonderful job at creating a scene that is realistic to a high school girl’s life. I love the way Anderson portrays Melinda, Melinda always seems closed off and cold on the outside, but this is her way of keeping people at a distance. I found it interesting as the story goes on that Melinda slowly starts to come out of her shell and starts to get everything put together instead of bottling it up and shielding herself from the world. I recommend this book to middle and high school students, because although it is about school life, it also mentions the trauma that Melinda had to go through.