Masks

Paper Butterflies

Mostly the Honest Truth

Dream Big, Shine Bright: Stories of Amazing Girls

Witness

Ballerina Dreams: From Orphan to Dancer

The Dot

Aaron Slater, Illustrator

The first ten lies they tell you in high school.

"Speak up for yourself—we want to know what you have to say."

From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.

In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

Speak was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Masks

Anderson Laurie Halse, Erson, Laurie Halse, 2002

Paper Butterflies

Lisa Heathfield, Caryl Lewis, 2022

Mostly the Honest Truth

Jody J. Little, 2019

Dream Big, Shine Bright: Stories of Amazing Girls

Riley Grace, 2023

Witness

Karen Hesse, 2000

Ballerina Dreams: From Orphan to Dancer

Elaine DePrince, Michaela Deprince, Frank Morrison, 2014

The Dot

Kristina Abissi, 2012

Aaron Slater, Illustrator

David Roberts, Andrea Beaty, 2021