Hi everyone! While I wait patiently for Artemis by Andy Weir to be released on Amazon, I decided I’m going to review the two latest books I have read for my YA Lit class. They are both fairly short novels and are very popular as well so I wanted to share my thoughts about them with you. I hope you enjoy.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Allegedly taken from the real diary of a teen girl, Go Ask Alice follows the harrowing journey of an unnamed girl who falls into drug use after trying LSD at a house party. Soon, she spirals out of control and struggles to return to her normal life but she must fight her addictions first.

I wasn’t particularly impressed with this novel. Now, it’s been disputed who was really the author but, regardless, the writing didn’t sound like a teen girl, even if she did live in the 1970s. While I didn’t like the writing, I still have to admit that there are valuable things to be taken from this short novel. This was one of the first novels to talk about drug abuse among teens and it still holds up in that aspect. If you are interested in examining YA literature from the past, then I recommend Go Ask Alice. If you are looking for some “fun” YA literature, then I suggest you look elsewhere.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda Sordino is off to an awful start in high school. She is abandoned by her former friends and outed by the rest of the school after she called the cops on a party. Melinda hides the truth for months and months until she decides to speak. She will change everything.

This novel is more recent and I definitely preferred the writing in this one, as it sounded more authentic. I found Melinda to be very relatable and I sympathized with her strongly. Speak definitely illustrates the viciousness of high school with accuracy. It is certainly a heart-wrenching novel that holds up more in this day and age. Again, if you are looking for a “fun” read, then go look elsewhere but if you are looking for a short but emotionally powerful novel then I recommend Speak. Anderson eloquently and painfully depicts the struggles of hiding your struggles from the world out of fear, even on a small scale.