Written in verse, Laurie Halse Anderson’s latest work Shout is a vividly powerful and compelling memoir of the Speak author’s life. Anderson describes growing up in upstate New York as the child of a minister/war veteran with unresolved emotional issues and a seemingly compliant (at first) mother, how she was raped at 13, and the fallout from that horrible act. In poems, Anderson tells about studying abroad in Denmark, her struggles with predatory professors in college, her experiences as a crime reporter, and the circumstances leading to her writing Speak 20 years ago.
Speak not only puts Anderson on the YA literary map, but it also allows her to hear from other sexual abuse victims of both sexes, as well as deal with school staffers and librarians who attempt to censor her book. Ultimately Anderson manages to resolve her inner conflicts and rage and Shout ends on an optimistic note of hope.
Recommended for readers 13 and up.
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