Listen to the First Few Chapters:
From the Book Jacket:
A memoir in poetry by one of the most crucial activists for sexual assault survivors writing today. When she was thirteen years old, Laurie Halse Anderson was a shy, bookish girl who was raped by a boy she trusted. Today, she's known as the New York Times bestselling author of Speak and many other novels, a two-time National Book Award nominee, and an advocate and activist.
In this powerful and searing book of free verse, Anderson tells the story she's never shared publicly before: what happened to her as a teenager, the path to recover she built herself, and how she turned her pain into art that would go on to help millions of readers the world over.
This book is for anyone who has ever been lost, ignored, silenced, abused, assaulted, harassed, talked down to, made to feel small,or know someone who has. It's for the writers and the readers, the dreamers, story weavers, poem collectors, song traders, word eaters. It's for the heartsick and the hope-filled,the furious and the fierce, the creators of call-outs, and anyone with the courage to say "#MeToo," whether aloud, online, or only in your own heart.
The moment to speak has passed. Now it's time to SHOUT.
Reviews:
"Laurie Halse Anderson's memoir is a profound and powerful exploration of memory, abuse, family, and the healing power of breaking a silence. The poetry ranges from beautiful and amusing to utterly gut-wrenching. The author shares so much of her background, from her complicated upbringing with a quiet and hard-shelled mother to a compassionate but alcohol-abusing father, who was a Protestant minister haunted by his time liberating concentration camps at the end of World War II. The author's sexual assault itself isn't dwelled upon for its physical damage but for its lifelong emotional impact. There would be no Melinda and no Speak if not for Laurie's own experience as a 13-year-old looking for romance and safety and ending up with a harrowing moment of violence. " -- Common Sense Media
“This is the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself a new one.
The award-winning author, who is also a rape survivor, opens up in this powerful free-verse memoir, holding nothing back. Part 1 begins with her father’s lifelong struggle as a World War II veteran, her childhood and rape at 13 by a boy she liked, the resulting downward spiral, her recovery during a year as an exchange student in Denmark, and the dream that gave her Melinda, Speak’s (1999) protagonist. Part 2 takes readers through her journey as a published author and National Book Award finalist. She recalls some of the many stories she’s heard during school visits from boys and girls who survived rape and sexual abuse and calls out censorship that has prevented some speaking engagements. In Part 3, she wraps up with poems about her family roots. The verse flows like powerful music, and Anderson's narrative voice is steady and direct: “We should teach our girls / that snapping is OK, / instead of waiting / for someone else to break them.” The poems range in length from a pair of two-line stanzas to several pages. Readers new to Anderson will find this accessible. It’s a strong example of how lived experience shapes art and an important book for the #MeToo movement." -- Kirkus Reviews