As March is National Women’s History month, and March 8th is National Women’s Day, it is the perfect time to look back upon the journey of women pioneers and their achievements. However, we cannot overlook the challenges like sexual assault, violence, and rape that women have faced for years. According to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 1 out of every 6 American women have been a victim of rape in their lifetime. Today I am going to share with you a book that tells the story of a survivor of rape.
Last summer, I had written a book review on the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book was beautifully written novel in verse that captured the point of view of a traumatized 13 year old girl as a victim of rape. For the past few decades, this topic has stirred a lot of controversy. I am not taking any sides here, and I am just reviewing books for the sake of diversity and literacy awareness. After reading Speak, I was determined to read Mrs. Anderson’s poetic memoir, Shout. In this book the author talks about the background of their life story and tells the reader about how the idea of writing Speak came to their mind.
Before I begin this review of Shout, I would warn everyone that the reader must be mature enough to read these two books as it covers dark topics like self harm, violence , harassment and derogatory language. This book is beautifully written despite the tone being dark. A victim must always have the chance to speak up and to shout in order to be heard.
The story starts off with a young, thirteen-year-old Laurie, telling the story of her rough childhood of how an incident of her being raped at 13 had led her life to be dropped rock bottom. Mrs. Anderson describes her story of her journey falling into a downward spiral, and finding herself backed up by a life changing exchange student trip. This experience gave her the encouragement to sit down and write her phenomenal story Speak in 1999. Anderson talks about her journey to the top of the mountain by describing the times she pushed herself to move up . These books have been controversial and have been constantly debated whether
they should be banned in children’s libraries. Overall, the books Speak and Shout have made sure that victims of rape around the United States have the chance to shout out their story and are heard.
This is not only the time to speak up but to shout against harassment and abuse.
I want to end this blog with a positive note. Happy Women’s History Month!
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s the power of using your voice”
-Michelle Obama