SPEAK (a poem) (original post 11/1/09)

Laurie Halse Anderson's book Speak is extremely powerful. It is the story of a high school freshman who is raped at a party just before high school begins. She withdraws from friends and family while dealing with the emotional pain; should she SPEAK out? Students and adults devour this book; it has given victims across the country the strength to SPEAK out.

Laurie Halse Anderson has received thousands of letters and emails from readers and, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the book, she decided to put some of them together into a poem. It is very powerful. This video is Laurie Halse Anderson herself talking about and reading the poem.