Speak
Resonant and fiercely authentic. This timely, critically acclaimed and award-winning modern classic is now a powerful graphic novel.
‘I said no.’
Melinda is an outcast at Merryweather High. Something happened over the summer – something bad – and now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen. So what’s the point in speaking at all?
Through her work on an art project, Melinda is finally able to face what really happened that night. But before she can make peace with the ghosts of the past, she has to confront the reality of the present – and stop someone who still wishes to do her harm. Only words can save her. She can’t stay silent. Not any more.
‘With the rise of women finding their voices and speaking out about sexual assault in the media, this should be on everyone’s radar… Powerful, necessary, and essential.’ Kirkus
Laurie Halse Anderson is the 2023 winner of the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
‘I said no.’
Melinda is an outcast at Merryweather High. Something happened over the summer – something bad – and now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen. So what’s the point in speaking at all?
Through her work on an art project, Melinda is finally able to face what really happened that night. But before she can make peace with the ghosts of the past, she has to confront the reality of the present – and stop someone who still wishes to do her harm. Only words can save her. She can’t stay silent. Not any more.
‘With the rise of women finding their voices and speaking out about sexual assault in the media, this should be on everyone’s radar… Powerful, necessary, and essential.’ Kirkus
Laurie Halse Anderson is the 2023 winner of the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
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Reviews
Hypnotizing and heart-breaking, with the kind of empowering finish that unshackles protagonist and readers alike.
Anderson's timeless and important tale of high-school sexual assault and its aftermath undergoes a masterful graphic novel transformation... With the rise of women finding their voices and speaking out about sexual assault in the media, this reworking of the enduring 1999 classic should be on everyone's radar... Powerful, necessary, and essential.
With spellbinding artwork, this exceptional adaptation masterfully does justice to its source material while adding new depth and nuance.
This potent retelling of the modern classic Speak blends words and images to create magic: a new representation of a teen whose voice is ripped from her, the battles she must wage to find it again, and the triumph of finally being able to speak out.