Speak 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 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 Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable 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 oneself.


為自己發聲──把心聲都說出來吧！從米蘭達進入晴和高中就讀開始，她就知道這只是一個謊言、高中生活的一派胡言。米蘭達打電話報了警，毀了夏末派對，因而成了沒有朋友的邊緣人，沒人願意跟她說話，更別說是聽她說話。米蘭達於是變得越來越孤僻，最後甚至連話都不說了。美術課成了她唯一的慰藉，透過藝術創作，她終於能面對那場派對的噩夢：她被學長強暴了！而且這名學長仍在學校裡，可能還會再次傷害米蘭達。在米蘭達正要走出傷痛之時，又與該名學長發生激烈衝突。不過這一次米蘭達勇敢反擊，不再緘默，為自己辯護。洛莉‧荷茲‧安德森再一力作，除了真實刻畫女主角，更以苦澀諷刺的筆觸，揭穿高中的虛偽世界。作者為許多被邊緣化的青少年而寫，道出為自己發聲的重要。