Speak, by Laurie Anderson, is such a great book for a lot of different reasons. It contains tons of social issues such as friendship, fitting into a place, and speaking up for yourself.Laurie Anderson does a really good job showing these issues through a high school character named Melinda.
Melinda called the cops during a party and loses all her friends. People who she don't even know hates her because she busted the party. None of her old friends will talk talk to her and making new friends seems impossible since everybody already hates her. Then, Melinda becomes an outcast and doesn't ever speak up for herself.
After that, Melinda is what others call a mute. Never again had she thought of speaking up for herself again until she finally breaks out and starts to speak again. Melinda starts to blurt out the truth about the party, but at first, nobody believed her, then they did. If you want to know how Melinda got through her problems and more, read the book!
Laurie Anderson does a great job creating the high school setting and her issues were really well expressed. So read the book and enjoy the fastinating story of Melinda!