Long Lost Reviews is a monthly meme created by Ally over at Ally’s Appraisals which is posted on the second Thursday of every month. The aim is to start tackling your review backlog. Whether it’s an in-depth analysis of how it affected your life, one sentence stating that you only remember the ending, or that you have no recollection of reading the book at all.
Published: 01 April 2001
Publisher: Puffin
Pages: 202
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
The first ten lies they tell you in high school.
“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.
This book is revered and I enjoyed it when read it in 2017. I never got around to writing a review though. Not for lack of want, but time got away from me and then I didn’t have many notes to be able to give it a proper analysis, only the memory of a few scenes and the feeling it was impactful and important. Looking at my rating I only gave it three stars which isn’t terrible, but I was surprised given how impactful I remember some scenes being. Though a few great scenes mean little when I can’t remember a lot of the rest of the book.
What I do know is I really resonated with Melinda. I understood her, I understood her silence, and art was a great form of expression for her. You understand as you read what has happened, you piece it together and even though you know, you’re compelled to keep reading.
It definitely doesn’t escape you that this is an important book, and Halse Anderson has done a fantastic job at telling it from Melinda’s experience. We are shown so much more than we are told but shown so beautifully it’s basically spelled out on the page. Certainly from 1999 it was groundbreaking book and even now it’s been released as a graphic novel so Melinda can share her experience with a new audience.
It’s only short but packs a punch. Ironically writing this Long Lost Review might make me reread it again and understand why I gave it a three star rating. I feel a lot of the rest of the book was the usual US American high school stuff that feels unnatural and unrealistic (whether that’s true or not it’s how I feel sometimes reading it). I might pick up the graphic novel and see, or revisit the book and give it another chance.
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