Speak

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Published: 1999, Penguin
198 pages

I've been wanting to read Speak for a while now for a couple reasons.  Number one reason: it is often acclaimed as one of the most influential YA books of our time and it has a surprising number of awards under its belt to back that up (including a Printz Honor as well as being a finalist for the National Book Award).   Number two reason: I really enjoyed Prom, also by Laurie Halse Anderson, and I wanted to see how she successfully pulled off two books with such different tones (Prom is light and humorous, and Speak is notoriously heavy).

The narrator is Melinda Sordino, a girl who begins her freshman year of high school as a total outcast.  Through the narrative we learn that she wasn't always a complete outcast, but a traumatic event toward the end of summer turns her into a virtual mute and makes her friends abandon her.  There is very little dialogue, as Melinda very rarely talks, and Anderson did an interesting job of creating a stream of consciousness writing style, so I felt like I was inside Melinda's head as she tried to navigate through the usual freshman year conflicts (where to sit at lunch, being stopped in the halls without a hall pass, cliques, report card woes, etc.) as well as her own obvious internal strife.

Melinda is clearly depressed and dejected, her only real outlet for expression being her art class.  About halfway through the book I started to wonder if I was ever going to find out what happened to her that so dramatically changed her life.  There are little hints throughout the book, and you do finally find out what went so wrong over the summer, though I won't say it here.  I have to say that I wish the revelation was a little more surprising, but I liked that it wasn't over-dramatized.  What comes after the revelation is a bit more surprising, almost to the point of being unbelievable, and that's the only aspect of this book that I didn't really love.

As it turns out, I found the tones of Prom and Speak to be very similar.  Anderson maintains her signature style of short chapters, subtle humor, and sarcastic observations of high school life.  The huge difference between the two books is that the subject matter is much more intense in Speak, so despite the occasional humor, it never breaks into the realm of "lighthearted" or "fun."  I've only read two books by Laurie Halse Anderson, but I would feel fully confident picking up another one of her books any time I was looking for something to read.  It's hard to put her books down, and she has a unique and honest perspective that I really appreciate.

Prom

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Published: 2005, Viking
224 pages

So this was supposed to be a "week-long series of posts," but then I fell asleep around 9 last night and fell behind on the second day.  Whoops!  Let's see if I can catch up.  This is not a book I would normally pick up myself, because the cover makes it look like pure chick lit.  I don't have a problem with chick lit, but it's just not my favorite style.  I had to read this book for a class and I'm glad I did because it turned out to be a really entertaining and worthwhile read.

Ashley, a 17-year-old senior in a Philadelphia high school, comes from a lower-middle-class family.  She's an average teenager with a pretty large group of girlfriends and one best friend Natalia.  Natalia is on the prom committee and completely obsessed with everything "prom."  Ashley doesn't even plan on going to prom, and has already mostly disengaged herself from high school, focusing most of her energy on her embarrassing job, moving in with her slacker boyfriend T.J., and life after high school.  When a math teacher steals the prom money and Natalia finds herself somewhat incapacitated, Ashley ends up at the heart of the prom committee, dealing with issues she didn't even think she cared about.

This book didn't completely blow my mind, maybe because the subject matter is light and "chick-lit-ish," but I definitely got some good laughs out of it.  Both Ashley's and Natalia's families are quirky and hilarious, and I really enjoyed Anderson's honest portrayal of high school and family life.  It is Ashley's normalcy that makes her a completely refreshing YA character.  She's not extremely rich or poor, like so many characters in YA literature.  She doesn't go to boarding school, and her parents and siblings are a constant presence in her life, another (realistic) characteristic that sets her apart from many YA characters.  Additionally, Anderson's writing style is engaging and hard to put down.  The chapters are short, and the dialogue is nicely done.

Laurie Halse Anderson's debut novel, Speak, was a finalist for the National Book Award and also received a Printz Award Honor, quickly establishing her as one of the most influential YA authors of our time.  I haven't read Speak yet, but from what I've heard it has very heavy subject matter (often described as "gritty"), and I'm interested to see how it contrasts with this lighthearted and mostly-upbeat story.  The fact that Anderson was able to pull off both styles successfully really "speaks" (ha!) to her versatility as an author.