Speak
By Laurie Halse Anderson
Published in 1999
Genre: Young adult fiction
My Rating: 5 Stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trigger Warning; Rape, Self Harm, Bullying
This book is aimed at an audience younger than myself however when I discovered what it was about I felt compelled to pick it up as it's on a topic I feel very strongly about. The book's not very long, I got through it in less than two days between working. Straight away, simply for the fact that this book speaks out on the truth for what life is like for victims of sexual assault I'm giving it a 5 star rating.
Important issues are addressed in this book for teenagers. It's not only a book that aids people in spotting the signs of sexual assault but it helps people to learn that they are not alone in whatever they've been through and to never judge someone else because you don't know their situation. Speak is fundamentally about helping victims speak out but the story is told in a subtle way.
Speak is so unbelievably relatable, it highlights the issues people face in real life high school. When reading this I was taken back to when I was fourteen and I pictured the set up in the high school I went to. The whole structure of the book is quite simple and fast paced but I didn't feel as though I was reading something that I felt too old for. It's an easy read for any age and an awareness message to teenagers.
Before the story begins theres a poem about how "you are not alone we're here, too" and a foreword from someone who Speak has helped.
The actual story was inspired by true events that happened in the authors life. She comments that about 90% of the story is made up but about 10% is from her history. What a brilliant way to help Anderson speak out about her past while inspiring others to do the same.
After the story there is then a letter from a brother to his younger brother about respecting women, how they are not furniture for men to lounge around on whenever they please (my theory is that the boys are the main characters future children). This is so important because as girls we are told to be careful; don't go out alone in the dark, walk with your keys between your fingers, always make sure someone knows where you are. But boys don't seem to be told not to rape women and that they can't use women at their own leisure, because its common sense right? Because you're sons a good guy right? The thing is, boys should be getting told to never touch women without permission as much as girls are getting told in their childhood to be careful. Girls are told to "stay safe" as if it would be their fault if anything happened to them, this is why so many victims of sexual assault believe it to be their fault it happened when that's actually never the case. The letter also makes clear that boys/men can be victims of sexual assault just as much as girls/women can.
In the final pages there are helpful paragraphs on the laws surrounding sex, after that there is also a page of resources with helplines and websites for anybody who needs it (linked below as I've not even heard of these before, I hope they are useful to someone).
If you've ever been affected by the topics in this book in your life then just know that you are not alone, it wasn't your fault and it's ok to speak out.
There really is so much more I could say on Speak and the books topic in general but I think this is sufficient.
Resource List;
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