Kundenrezensionen

Speak

5 Sterne:		(56)
4 Sterne:		(8)
3 Sterne:		(4)
2 Sterne:		(1)
1 Sterne:		(0)

 

 

In Laurie Halse Anderson's realistic novel, Speak, I was taken into the mysterious world of ninth grader Melinda Sordino. The terrifying reality of Melinda's life is overwhelming!

Anderson shows you what it feels like to be an outcast in your first year of highschool. What pulls you into the book is the fact that something terrible has happened to Melinda, and the author doesn't reveal the incident until the end. As a result of the trauma Melinda rarely talks. I caught myself screaming to Melinda, "Why won't you talk! "

When reading the book you'll wonder, why is Melinda calling a boy who attends her highschool IT? And why is she so afraid of him? You realize Melinda is going through a tough time of depression. All YOU (the audience) know is that she called the cops at a party last summer, but WHY? Now her friends won't talk to her because she broke up a fun party without an explanation. She won't tell anyone about "the secret" she is hiding, and what really happened at the party. The author does this to keep you on the edge of your seat, and believe me, that's what will happen!

You know she needs to tell someone what she is keeping inside. But then, things turn even worse. She is now cutting class, hanging out at the mall during school hours, and getting D's and F's(every once and awhile the author shares Melinda's grade card in the book)

I recommend this book to teens who enjoy suspense. This book moved, shocked, and amazed me. I guarantee, the conclusion of this story will leave your eyes popped out. So, take this journey with Melinda through her first year of highschool, and find out why it's so important for her to speak.

This book is awesome. I suggest everybody of all ages to read this book, no matter if you are an adult, children, or young adult. This is a book that you can't put down until you are finished. It is a truly inspiring book that is written in a self-reflection style. It doesn't take a long time to read it. Many people I know that has read this book loved it. I believe Laurie Halse Anderson has written a powerful, painful, and deep book.

This is about a ninth grader called Melinda Sordino. Melinda has bent an outcast since her first day of high school. Her old friends won't talk to her. Her parents, teachers, and hardly anybody in her life are supportive towards her. People she doesn't know treat her awfully. As Melinda's life and future turns into a disaster, she starts to skip school, fail classes, and becomes a troubled kid. All this is happening because of one incident in an end-of-summer party. She stopped the party by calling the cops. This ruined her popularity. Not only was her popularity destroyed, but also something happened to her during that evening. Something she wants to get out of her head. Something that no matter how hard she tries to forget it, it still leaves a mark in her. Nobody is interested in finding out why she stopped the party. As Melinda becomes more isolated, she speaks rarely. When the truth comes out, an unexpected thing happens.

This book has become one of my favorite books. The middle and ending of the book was very exciting. The ending will make you want to read it over and over again. If this book hasn't been translated to other languages, I believe this should be done. Then people all over the world can read this awesome book.

We had to read this book for the english - lessons, for which it is very suitable, because Melida, the main - character uses quite easy language to tell the readers in this diary - like story about her everday school - martyrium. Though it deals with a dark and overwhelming painful subject, it is written in a very sarcastic way, what makes the reading - process more pleasant. The young silent Milinda Sordino went to school with "the wrong hair, the wrong clothes and the wrong attitude" plus the fact, that her friends suddenly won't talk to her anymore, she becomes a hopeless outcast. Being picked on everyday and not having anyone to talk to, she suffers quietly and for herselfe. But the memory of what happened just won't stop huntig her......

We don't want to mention the end here, because you'll get to know what really happened at the end of the summer - party while reading - and meanwhile there's a lot of space for interpretation.

We all enjoyed reading the book, because it touches you with its honesty and sadness and is very well written by a talented, motivated author - we'd recommend it to anyone!!!

The teen novel "Speak" written by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda Sordino who has been raped at an end-of-summer party and is stuck mute ever since.

The book starts at the beginning of Melinda's first year in high school. She is "Outcast" and she doesn't talk at all. Flashbacks throughout the book explain why: She had been raped at a party and has called the police afterwards to get help, but they busted the party. By the time she gets back to school, no-one, except for Heather who just moved to Syracuse, talks to her and even her best friend (now ex-best friend) Rachel ignores her. Melinda, also called Mel, tries to be friends with Heather to show everyone that she isn't all alone. The lack of conversation and the fact that they have nothing in common make their pretended friendship fall apart.

Furthermore Mel has a very difficult relationship with her family. Her parents are barely at home so they communicate over notes on their kitchen counter.

Melinda has no-one she can trust so she suffers even more from the consequences of her experience. She starts to skip school more often and her grades become worse. The only thing that helps her to cope with everything is her art which is an important way for her to express her emotions.

I don't think that "Speak" is an outstanding book because there was nothing memorable about it. The language was good but it wasn't special. The sense of humour the characters have is not really entertaining and so is the whole story. One could guess from the first page on what has happened to Melinda and that makes the book quite boring. The first half of it is just about her being depressive and alone. It's quite unrealistic to me that there is nobody at school or at home who tries to help her. The only thing her parents ask is "What is wrong with you?" which Mel does not answer. They never question WHY she is stuck mute which is really strange and I doubt that any parent acts that way.

Furthermore there are way too many stereotypes in the novel. The cool cheerleaders, the athletic guys every girl in school falls in love with, the geeks, the bad teachers, the open-minded art teacher, the new girl who desperately tries to join the clan of popular kids and - of course - the outcasts. The protagonist herself is the most well-drawn character of the book. I think that most of the readers can relate to her because Laurie Halse Anderson describes Mel as an average teen who has problems.

But the supporting characters are not as good as Melinda. They have no personality, they are just an image of the stereotypes at an American high school. It's pretty much what one has seen in every teenage movie or has read in an average novel for that target group.

Besides that the end comes very sudden which is a major dislike for me. The first 100 pages are not really exciting to read and I felt like Mel hardly develops. But in the last quarter everything turns around. It seems like Mrs. Anderson tried to make the book and as fast as possible at that point.

Frankly one can say that the author of "Speak" just included too many issues in her story. Melinda has to cope with the aftermath of the rape as well as with social problems at a very high level. She doesn't even try to get (professional) help somewhere. The only solution for her is not to say anything and try to swallow it. I cannot relate to that behaviour but maybe this is exactly how some other teenagers feel. I wouldn't consider the novel to be a waste of time for everyone because Laurie Halse Anderson clearly made a good attempt. I just want to warn those who love books with characters who seem to be real. That's not the case here. That's really important to me so that's why my rating is so low.

This book is definitely one of my favorites. It's so different from anything I have ever read, the style, the tone, and the way it was written. It was a compelling read from the beginning to the end.

The story is not written as your average outcast "popular people are stupid" cliche. It's an original. The tone is like Melinda is just relaying her thoughts and what she sees to the reader, rather than her feelings and rage and anger against the people that hurt her. Her character gets stronger as you read on, as she begins to stand up for herself.

I liked how the author didn't just tell you what had happened to Melinda in order for her to stay so silent - instead, bits of the incident unfolds as you read along.

I was caught up in Melinda's world, and even though I'm glad to say that I haven't been there and done that, it was easy to just recognize the pain, fear and confusion she went through just because the author doesn't say it right out.

Overall, an excellent read and I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to feel the triumph of "Speak".

Ich fand das Buch sehr gut :)

Am Anfang weiß man nicht, warum Melinda nichts mehr zu sagen hat, aber nach und nach kommt man dahinter.

Zum einen kommt sie gegen die Redeschwälle der anderen nicht an und dieser am Anfang noch uminöse Vorfall auf der Party im Sommer bekommt immer mehr an Gewicht, so lange bis die genauen Umstände aufgeklärt werden und Melinda für sich selber merkt, dass sie sich nur retten kann, wenn sie redet...

Und das tut sie am Ende auch...

Ich finde, dass das Buch sehr gut geschrieben ist.

Man kann alles sehr gut nachvollziehen und versteht, was hinter dem Schweigen steht. Warum Mel einfach die Worte ausgehen.

Bei manchen Szenen musste ich echt schlucken...die Ignoranz um sie herum ist wirklich ergreifend.

Okay, the title's corny, but really I have a lot to say about this book, basically because of the issues covered in it. 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Anderson was a book I was interested in every since it was featured in the teen section of the amazon.com website. I'm always reluctant to buy books I'd never read before (which is a habit I have to get over if I want to ever read anything, but I'm getting off subject), so I got it out at the library. I've just gotten it out for like the fifth time, seriously. It's a book you gotta read a couple times, and not because you won't understand it, but because even when the book starts you feel so close to the protagonist because you know just what she's going through. I'm going to be a freshman in high school soon, and although I don't know much about high school except how to march in marching band, I know junior high is a lot like it. And reading about Melinda and her horrifying secret was a wonderful experience. I know how hard it is to keep a secret. You want and need to tell somebody, but you know if you do then things will go bad! That's just what's going on with Melinda. Melinda called the cops on one of the biggest parties ever, but she hasn't told anyone why. And now she has become the outcast and no one will talk to her and she has begun to cease to speak, hence the title. This story is really a wonderful one to read. Though it seems at the beginning that our hero Melinda is a weak person, you realize that really she is one of the strongest in the book. And it teaches you alot about life. Really a must read for anyone whose going through high school or maybe hasn't gotten there yet! It's truly an eye opener!

Dieses Buch hat mich sehr berührt. Es ist erstaunlich, wie authentisch der Charakter von Melinda dargestellt wird.
Man fühlt sofort mit ihr mit, und obwohl es in diesem Buch ja eigentlich um eine Vergewaltigung geht, wird diese nicht permanent in den Vordergrund gestellt, vielmehr Melindas Gefühlsleben, ihre Wege mit ihrer schwierigen Situation irgendwie fertig zu werden. Gerade das macht das Buch so echt, der Leser taucht völlig in Melindas Welt ein.

An vielen Stellen war das Buch auch wirklich sehr lustig, gerade wenn Melina mit ihrem schwarzen, doch stark depressiv angehauchten Humor Situationen um sich herum aus ihrer Sicht betrachtet.
Was mich besonders berührt hat, war die Unfähigkeit Melindas am Anfang des Buches sich irgendwie mitzuteilen, im Laufe des Buches jedoch ändert sich das.

Gute Schullektüre, schülernahes Thema/Situation (Ausgrenzung einer einzelnen Person), angemessener Gebrauch von "slang", Jugendsprache, gut verständlich, ansonsten 'gutes' Englisch, das als Vorbild dienen kann.

Summer 's gone and high school begins horribly for Melinda. Old friends glare at her and new teachers can't stand her not talking. Surviving that just means more trouble with her stressed-out, tough-loving parents. All that is left are the memories of a functional family, a happy life and a summer night that turned everything around.

Obviously, Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak" is not exactly cotton candy but instead a cynical, drastic and most of all honest look at the life of teenage trauma and trouble. I loved the book and reading it got me hooked for YA novels again! The dark-humored analyses of Melinda, the intimate insights into her mind and the moving story made this book a tragicomic experience. Not only did I feel that Laurie Halse Anderson captured the protagonist's story passionately, but also showed a deep understanding of both psychology and suspense. Personally, I'd recommend "Speak" to pretty much everyone who is interested in detailed characters, disturbing setting and "harsh" young adult novels (plus, as indicated, everybody else).

Additionally, as a student in a teacher training program, this is a great book for use in class. It dissects school life in a way that gets students and teachers thinking and provokes reactions without being moralistic. If you don't everybody to read it (and that's just fine) at least include "Speak" in a "possible reading" list.