Paperspine Blog

This book is quite possibly one of the most “real” books I’ve ever read, particularly relating to teenage depression.

The premise of Speak is that something very traumatic happens to the main character, Melinda, over the summer. When she starts school in the fall, everybody hates her because the think she called the cops to break up a party. She pretty much stops speaking. Her grades plummet. She skips school. Nobody steps in, other than to yell at her for misbehaving.

Some people have said that this book doesn’t have much action, that Melinda seems “apart” from everything… and yeah, that’s true. Melinda IS apart from everybody. But that’s how depression works. You feel apart from everything, aren’t interested in things, don’t really want to do much.

Personally, I think that this book was fantastic. Following Melinda throughout the year is fascinating. So many things about this book ring true… the PTA and their silliness of changing the school mascot because “Trojans don’t really fit with our abstinence-only image”, how vicious some of the popular kids can be, and how extremely ignorant Melinda’s parents are of what is really going on with her.

Put Speak in your queue today. Be sure to read the the “author Q&A” section after you’ve read the book. Also, though I haven’t seen it myself, there’s a movie version that you may want to see, starring Kristen Stewart (the actress who’ll be playing Bella in the upcoming Twilight movie) as Melinda.