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3 reviews

Hattie D.

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Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson (Goodreads Author)

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Hattie D. said: "
I read the book Speak by Laurie Anderson. I would rate it 5/5 stars for three reasons. It had a good introduction. Also it always made me ask questions to myself and wonder. The last reason is because of the descriptiveness throughout the entire boo
I read the book Speak by Laurie Anderson. I would rate it 5/5 stars for three reasons. It had a good introduction. Also it always made me ask questions to myself and wonder. The last reason is because of the descriptiveness throughout the entire book.
The first reason I gave it 5/5 stars is because it had a good introduction. It pulled me right into the action. The opening sentence was, “It was my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate and a stomachache.” The first thing I wondered was, why did she have a stomachache? The 2nd quote that brought directly into the action was, “If I sit in the middle a stranger could sit next to me. If I sit in the front it will make me look like a little kid, but I figure it’s the best chance I have to make eye contact with one of my friends, if any of them decide to talk to me yet.” By bringing me right into the action it brings up my next reason for such a high rating which is making me wonder and ask questions.
Two questions I immediately asked myself after reading only a few pages was, What did she do that is so bad and make her stay in and do nothing on the last weeks left of summer? Being only a few years younger than her I could easily relate and picture how a new 9th grader would act like which allowed me to comprehend the story easier. The 2nd question I asked myself was, is her being left alone and not getting a lot of attention one of the reasons she did what ruined her reputation? After reading on I later came to a conclusion that what she did was a very poor decision and lead into an extremely bad outcome of her being taken advantage of because she was under the influence which could happen to anyone so it helped me to open my eyes and realize its not all fun in games serious things can be done that will ruin your life and come back to haunt you. I will always make the best decisions when dealing with big things and reading this was a great reminder. I thought her parents should’ve been involved more with helping her rather than leaving her alone a lot after what happened. I’m sure if she had better guidance growing up she wouldn’t have made a bad decision like that.
The last reason why I chose 5 stars was because of the descriptiveness. It helped me understand her feelings or what something looked like that way I could picture myself right there. On page 15 a quote that allowed me too see how she saw things was, “The doors opens and I step up. I am the first pickup of the day. The driver pulls away while I stand in the aisle. I immediately pictured her standing alone in the bus with just the bus driver silently driving away since he was in a rush to pickup all the other kids. Another descriptive quote was on page 20. It said, “The kids behind me laugh so loud I know they’re laughing about me. I can’t help myself. I turn around. It’s Rachel, surrounded by a bunch of kids wearing clothes that definently did not come from the East Side Mall. Rachel Bruin, my ex-best friend.” I could imagine her feelings the second I finished reading that sentence. The worst feeling is when you alone getting picked on and on top of that she described her a, “This was the girl who suffered through Brownies with me, who taught me how to swim, who understood about my parents, who didn’t make fun of my bedroom.” She was the closest to her rather than any of her friends. I could never imagine not having best friends to be there for me when I need them for even stupid stuff like just laughing together to make me feel better when I’m having a bad day. Her family doesn’t seem to help much either which is something I couldn’t do anything without them I know they’re the few people who would always be there for me at the end of the day.
After reading this story I was able to think about how grateful I am but it really also reminded me of one thing. No matter how you are feeling at the moment never make a bad choice. It took her no where good in life in fact at the time she may of thought it would make her cooler to drink with all her friends but she should’ve thought of all of the bad outcomes that could also happen. This story was a great reminder of how lucky I am to have such good support from my family for everything and always to be wise. I’m glad I got the chance to read this book. ...more "

Nov 21, 2013 04:19PM · see review