Despite all the final projects at the end of the semester I have managed to find time for a little bit of pleasure reading. I'm reading "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson and I'm very impressed with the book so far. I read this book when I was a freshman in high school and I decided to reread it now since it is a young adult book that is commonly used in high school language arts classes. Also, I always find it interesting to reread books that I've read in high school because my perspective and opinions on the books always change and I think it's interesting for me to see that change. I think "Speak" is a great book for high school students because the main character, Melinda, is so believable. The book has a prefect balance between humor and seriousness and I think it has an important message for students. This book can help teenagers to see that they shouldn't judge somebody based on what they see on the outside, because they ultimately don't really know what's going on in the inside. Also, this book encourages students to seek help if they've gone through any kind of crisis. I think this book has a lot of potential for classroom discussion and I would really like to teach it in my future classroom. I've attached a link to a website with a youtube video of Laurie Halse Anderson's poem based on reader responses to her book. It's very interesting.
Laurie Halse Anderson on Speak
I'm re-reading this book also, and I feel the same way you do! I got it as an audio book and listened to it on my car ride home from my parents house, and I couldn't stop once I got home, I procrastinated doing my homework so I could hear the ending! I am so glad I picked this back up, in high school, I thought it was okay, now I think it's a great book, and if it is not banned in my district, I'd love to use it in my classroom!
ReplyDeleteI love this book. It actually makes teens feel real. She really captures the snap-judgments, cliques and the overall feel of high school. It has important themes as well that could be taught, as long as the school district allows it to be read, since it is often censored which is unfortunate.
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