{"id":35868,"date":"2019-02-02T02:11:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T06:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=35868"},"modified":"2019-02-02T02:13:51","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T06:13:51","slug":"review-of-shout-by-laurie-halse-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=35868","title":{"rendered":"Review of Shout, by Laurie Halse Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Shout<\/p>\n

The True Story of a Survivor Who Refused to Be Silenced<\/em><\/p>\n

by Laurie Halse Anderson<\/p>\n

Viking Children\u2019s Books, March 12, 2019. 290 pages.
\nStarred Review
\nReview written February 1, 2019, from an advance reader copy picked up at ALA Midwinter Meeting.<\/p>\n

[I do need to make a category for teen nonfiction. That\u2019s what this is, but it certainly is appropriate for adults, so I\u2019m going to list it on my nonfiction for grown-ups page.]<\/p>\n

I read Laurie Halse Anderson\u2019s novel Speak<\/em> during library school, when I was taking a class on young adult literature (but wasn\u2019t posting reviews because I was too busy). The novel, written twenty years ago, is already a classic. It features a girl who doesn\u2019t speak because she\u2019s traumatized by what happened to her at a party just before she began high school.<\/p>\n

Now Laurie Halse Anderson is telling the true story of what happened to her.<\/p>\n

This memoir is written in verse, and the poems are hard-hitting. She gives an outline of her background and the incident that happened to her that was later reflected in the book Speak<\/em>. But more than that, she includes in the book many stories that were told to her after she wrote Speak<\/em>. Stories from teens both female and male, and stories from women and men.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a bit from the poem \u201ctsunami,\u201d which is about the reaction from teens after Speak<\/em> was published.<\/p>\n

tens of thousands speak
\nwords ruffling the surface of the sea
\ninto whitecaps, they whisper
\nto the shoulder of my sweater
\nthey mail
\ntweet, cry
\ndirect-message
\nhand me notes
\nfolded into shards
\nwhen no one is watching<\/p>\n

sharing memories and befuddlement
\nbroken dreams and sorrow
\nthey struggle in the middle
\nof the ocean, storms battering
\ngrabbing for sliced life jackets
\ndriftwood
\nflotsam and jetsam from downed
\nunfound planes, sunken ships
\nand other disasters<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She also writes about how much resistance there is to her books from teachers and principals, hoping if they keep her from talking about bad things, bad things won\u2019t happen at their school.<\/p>\n

the false innocence
\nyou render for them
\nby censoring truth
\nprotects only you<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not all sadness and tragedy, though. There are many sweet moments. I loved the part when, as a bewildered new author, she was a Finalist for the National Book Award. A student journalist commented on how friendly the five finalists, including Walter Dean Myers, were with each other and asked \u201cAren\u2019t you supposed to be competitors?\u201d<\/p>\n

Walter took the mic and smiled
\n\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cNot competitors.
\nWe\u2019re coconspirators, and we like it that way.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also love the part where she describes the year she spent studying in a student exchange program with a family on a pig farm in Denmark. That was a time when it was good to be on a new continent.<\/p>\n

And I love the poem “yes, please” about how lovely it is to get a Yes.<\/p>\n

the taste of someone who has proven
\nworthy
\nof your yes
\nis worth the questing, slow beckoning
\ninterrogating, interesting, conversating
\nadventuring yes is ongoing
\nyes enthusiastic
\nyes informed
\nyes free-given
\nyes the truest test
\nof sex
\nthe consent of yes is necessary<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the overall story is that the time to simply speak is done. Now it\u2019s time to shout.<\/p>\n

As she says in the final poem, \u201cmy why\u201d:<\/p>\n

stories activate, motivate,
\ncelebrate, cerebrate,
\nsnare our fates
\nand share our great
\nincarnations of hope<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a wonderful book. I\u2019m passing on my advance reader copy, because I know I\u2019ll want to read it again in the finished form. Watch for it in March. The poems stick with you and get into your heart.<\/p>\n

madwomanintheforest.com<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/shout.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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