Speak is the story of Melinda Sordino's freshman year of high school. Melinda called the cops at an end-of-summer party, getting a lot of her classmates in big trouble. As a result, none of her old friends are talking to her anymore. 
 "I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don't have anyone to sit with. I am Outcast." 
 Despite Melinda's depression and the story's deep message about a dark topic, Melinda's voice is entertaining and at times, humorous. 
 For example, Melinda's algebra teacher decides to teach them how to use algebra in real life: 
 "Today's Application has something to do with buying guppies at the pet store, and calculating how many guppies you could breed if you wanted to go into the guppie business. Once the guppies turn into x's and y's my contacts fog. Class ends in a debate between the animal-rights activists, who say it is immoral to own fish, and the red-blooded capitalists, who know lots of better ways to make money than investing in fish that eat their young." 
 Even though the book was written 15 years ago, I found Melinda's observations of high school to be accurate (I was in high school fairly recently). 
 "The First Ten Lies They Tell You in High School: 
 1.	We are here to help you. 
 2.	You will have enough time to get to class before the bell rings. 
 3.	The dress code will be enforced. 
 4.	No smoking is allowed on school grounds. 
 5.	Our football team will win the championship this year. 
 6.	We expect more of you here. 
 7.	Guidance counselors are always available to listen. 
 8.	Your schedule was created with your needs in mind. 
 9.	Your locker combination is private. 
 10.	These will be the years you look back on fondly." 
 I also loved the characters in this book. Each one of them is so unique. There's David Petrikis, Melinda's super smart lab partner, Heather from Ohio, her only friend, Mr. Freeman, her slightly insane art teacher, Hairwoman, her English teacher, Rachel/Rachelle, Melinda's ex-best friend.... The list goes on. Each character is memorable and enjoyable. 
 Speak doesn't just focus on Melinda's depression. There is the constant struggle to find an appropriate school mascot going on (they end up being The Hornets, which is funny because the cheerleaders then create a chant along the lines of, "We are the hornets, the horny horny hornets!") 
 I also enjoyed the writing style. I liked how things were organized, by topic rather than by chapter (that may make more sense when you actually read the book, which I hope you will). And I appreciated the lack of bad language. However, like a previous reviewer suggested, I would recommend discussing this book with your child as (SPOILER) it does deal with rape and depression in teens. It has a great message about speaking up and getting help if you need it. It's definitely an emotional book. There were a few parts when I was in tears (but that does seem to be happening kind of often to me lately when I read). 
 I really loved Speak. 
 ***NOTE*** This review is a version of one previously posted on my blog, bookreviews77.com. See the original post here- http://bookreviews77.com/2015/03/21/s...