Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: Poetry
Length: 320 pages
Audiobook Length: 3 hours and 48 minutes
First Published: 2019

Rachael’s Review

Bestselling poet Laurie Halse Anderson writes her memoir in free verse in this powerful tale of surviving sexual assault. Twenty years after writing the fictional story Speak, Anderson is stunned at how little has changed. Sharing deeply personal stories, Shout is perfect for the #MeToo era. I’m not a fan of poetry, but listening to the audiobook made the poems come alive – adding pauses and inflections.

Publisher’s Description

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a critically acclaimed poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven among deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Praised as “captivating,” “powerful,” and “essential” by critics, this searing and soul-searching memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #MeToo and #TimesUp, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice–and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

Quotes from Shout

This is the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself a new one.

Too many grown ups tell kids to follow their dreams, like that’s going to get them somewhere. Auntie Laurie says follow your nightmares instead. Because when you figure out what’s eating you alive, you can slay it.

We should teach our girls that snapping is ok, instead of waiting for someone else to break them.

Shame, turned inside out, is rage.