No. of pages: 230
Rating: 10/10
Synopsis: Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud. What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...
Review: I've read this book several times after first picking it up at the library when I was 15. I like it as much now as I did then, and I still find it as moving. You go through the book following Melinda as she starts a new year at school, something traumatic has happened to her but that's not even referred to until half way through the book, and not revealed until the end. All you really know is that all of the students in her school think she's really weird, and some of them seem to hate her. It's really a book about being an outcase teenager, how hard it is, especially when you're trying to cope with so much. It's very easy to read, and written in a casual style. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading Young Adult books, and I'd also recommend the film as that's equally as good.
