#8 Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Speak


Author: Laurie Halse Anderson


Page Count: 195


Genre(s): Romance, adolescent, hurt, high school, fiction


Publisher: Penguin Group


Rating: 5/5


Summary: Melinda Sordino was a normal high school-freshmen-to-be when she and her friends crash a popular high school party where she becomes instantly close to a boy who commits the unthinkable when no one looks. Now her high school days are full of dread as her fellow peers torment her and she struggles to re-find her voice and speak the truth.


Review: For anyone whose high school years were anything but perfect, this touching story will break your heart and give you courage to speak up for yourself as it explores the dark side of high school life.


Where to Buy (Online only): Amazon, Borders, Penguin Group

#6 The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Title: The Memory Keeper's Daughter


Author: Kim Edwards


Page Count: 401


Genre(s): Romance, drama, hurt, family, fiction


Publisher: Penguin Books


Rating: 5/5


Summary: Successful doctor David Henry and beautiful wife Norah are about to have their first child. During a cold and snowy night in March, Norah goes into labor and David is forced to deliver his new child in his own clinic only to discover what a beautiful discovery is usually for a new parent: unexpected twins. The boy is perfect and the image of good health, however the girl is anything but. The diagnosis is clear: Down's syndrome. In order to protect his wife from emotional harm David orders his nurse to take the baby away to an institution, setting in motion the wheel of outrageous events and new, scattered lives.


Review: By far this is one of my favorite books, not just because it takes place close to my home town (Kentucky), but because of the creative emotional plot Kim Edwards was able to create. She went beyond the line most writers nowadays never dare pass by touching on a sensitive but controversial subject, and retelling the cruel truths of the past on how mentally handicapped people were treated.


Where to Buy (Online only): Amazon, Borders, Penguin Group