The bestselling, award-winning modern classic Speak is now a stunning graphic novel―adapted by Laurie Halse Anderson herself and brought to life visually by Eisner Award winner E.M. Carroll. "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 lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, an outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, Melinda 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―and refuses to be silent. The groundbreaking National Book Award Finalist and Michael L. Printz Honor Book about consent, healing, and finding your voice comes alive for new audiences and fans of the original novel in Speak: The Graphic Novel . Gr 7 Up—Melinda is already a pariah on her first day as a freshman at Merryweather High. She involved the police in an end-of-summer party, and now everyone shuns her. Unable to tell anyone what actually happened at the party, Melinda withdraws more and more into herself. Rarely speaking, ditching classes, and ignoring school assignments, she spirals downward into apathy and depression. One of the few people to reach her is her art teacher, who helps her express with art what she has so deeply and painfully buried. This potent retelling of the modern classic Speak blends words and images to create magic: a new representation of a teen whose voice is ripped from her, the battles she must wage to find it again, and the triumph of finally being able to speak out. Carroll's grayscale artwork perfectly depicts the starkness of Melinda's depression through strong ink lines and striking panels that rely on pencil and charcoal textural effects for the backgrounds. The characters are distinct and the action flows naturally; it is amazing how closely this version evokes the style and feeling of the original. The dialogue is pulled directly from the novel and enhances the progression of the story and of Melinda's emotions. VERDICT This gripping, powerful work will introduce Speak to a brand-new audience and enthrall longtime fans. Admirers of Carroll's Through the Woods will also appreciate this timeless tale.—Kelley Gile, Cheshire Public Library, CT A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Booklist Youth Editors' Choice A YALSA Great Graphic Novel Reading List Selection A YALSA Teens' Top Ten List Selection An Amelia Bloomer Best Feminist Book for Young Readers An Amelia Bloomer Top Ten Book A Quill & Quire Best Kids' Book of the Year A Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Selection The EBSCO See-It Award Winner An ILA Young Adult Reading List Selection A Kids' Comics Award Nominee Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award Winner ★ "Carroll, well-known for [their] horror comics, does an excellent job of bringing the vignettes of Anderson’s novel to the graphic format. With spellbinding artwork, this exceptional adaptation masterfully does justice to its source material while adding new depth and nuance." ― Booklist , starred review ★ "This potent retelling of the modern classic Speak blends words and images to create magic: a new representation of a teen whose voice is ripped from her, the battles she must wage to find it again, and the triumph of finally being able to speak out. Carroll’s grayscale artwork perfectly depicts the starkness of Melinda’s depression through strong ink lines and striking panels that rely on pencil and charcoal textural effects for the backgrounds. The characters are distinct and the action flows naturally; it is amazing how closely this version evokes the style and feeling of the original." ― School Library Journal , starred review ★ "Anderson’s timeless and important tale of high -school sexual assault and its aftermath undergoes a masterful graphic novel transformation. Carroll’s stark black-and-white illustrations are exquisitely rendered, capturing the mood through a perfectly calibrated lens. With the rise of women finding their voices and speaking out about sexual assault in the media, this reworking of the enduring 1999 classic should be on everyone’s radar . . . Powerful, necessary, and essential." ― Kirkus Reviews , starred review ★ "In this new graphic novel adaptation of Anderson’s Speak (rev. 9/99)―a powerful narrative of a freshman’s year of self-preservation after a brutal sexual assault―artist Carroll starkly renders protagonist Melinda’s pain and healing in black and white,