The first ten lies they tell you in high schoolSpeak up for yourself - we want to know what you have to say From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High Melinda knows that this is a big fat lie part of the nonsense of high school She is friendless outcast because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops so now nobody will talk to her let alone listen to her As time passes she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether Only her art class offers any solace and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party she was raped by an upperclassman a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him But this time Melinda fights back refuses to be silent and thereby achieves a measure of vindication In this powerful novel an utterly believeable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneselfSpeak is a National Book Award Finalist for Young Peoples Literature.
