NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A memoir in poetry by one of the most crucial activists for sexual assault survivors writing today. “A captivating, powerful read about clawing your way out of trauma, reclaiming your body, and undoing lifetimes of lessons in order to use your voice as the weapon it is.”—Booklist, starred review “Speak[s] for the still-silent among us, and forces all of us to acknowledge the real and painful truths that are too dangerous to ignore.”—The New York Times 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 recovery 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 knows 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.

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Published Mar 12, 2019

304 pages

Average rating: 8.75

24 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Groundhogcat
10/10 stars
Memoir written as a series of poems.

Interesting and very unexpected.

Anderson is a survivor of rape and writes frankly of her experience and society's reactions to rape.

Fonky_Brewster
8/10 stars
My previous relationship with [a:Laurie Halse Anderson|10003|Laurie Halse Anderson|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1563830499p2/10003.jpg]'s [b:Speak|39280444|Speak|Laurie Halse Anderson|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529044298l/39280444._SY75_.jpg|118521] was back when it was first published. I was still in high school (and so, the perfect audience) and I remember telling my English teacher about it - hoping to have it added to the reading curriculum. Yes, I was That Kid™ - which for my teachers was either obnoxious or encouraging. I recognized, as a then yet-unnamed feminist wunderkind, that it had an important and relevant message. 15 years later the #MeToo movement took the world by storm (maybe if my English teachers had listened to me back then than people would have been less upset by the news and behaviors would have long since changed. Coincidence?)
This is a memoir-in-verse, and I applaud Anderson for sharing her story with us not once but twice. We surely don't deserve it and she gives and gives of herself over and over again.
Madison
10/10 stars
Very well written but sad that she had to go through all of that.
BrandeeD
8/10 stars
At first I didn't see the need for this to be written in verse but as the book progressed it really added to the personality and tone of the story. So beautiful to hear Anderson's truth and bravery. And yes...we need to shout!
Mrs. Awake Taco
10/10 stars
Incredible.

This book not only discusses the incident, but the before. The after. The healing. The learning. The leaning on each other. This book shares and gives and lifts up. This book was beautiful and heartbreaking and glorious and I'm going to recommend it to everyone because everyone needs it.

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