Speak is a YA novel about a girl who becomes isolated at the start of high school and has to confront her own experience while living with the memory of sexual assault and a silence that has taken hold of her. Its precise psychological portrait and restrained narration make trauma, loneliness, and recovery feel immediate and unforgettable.

Told from one girl’s point of view, the novel follows the long road to breaking silence and reclaiming a voice while carrying the memory of pain.