When I was in middle school, I read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson—and it changed me forever. This book is not just a story; it’s a lifeline. It taught me the importance of finding my voice, of speaking up, of standing my ground even when it feels impossible.

Today, I walked into Barnes & Noble and saw it sitting on the shelves, and my heart did a little leap. But that joy was quickly followed by heartbreak when I noticed it’s also on the banned books list. Let that sink in—this book, a story that has saved and shaped lives, has been hidden away in schools and libraries. Taken out of the hands of the very girls who might need it most.

Yes, Speak deals with heavy themes. But that’s exactly why it’s so important. Laurie Halse Anderson didn’t shy away from the reality of trauma, and in doing so, she gave countless readers—including me—something priceless: understanding, awareness, and the knowledge that we are not alone. She even received awards for this work, and rightfully so.

So why ban it? Why silence it? Is it because it makes people uncomfortable? Because it forces us to acknowledge the reality of sexual assault? Or—darker still—because some would rather women and girls not have the words to fight back, to draw boundaries, to say no?

I can tell you this much: Speak taught me to be cautious at parties, to question who I trust, and to recognize red flags that could protect me. It was more than a book; it was a survival guide. And it breaks my heart to think of young girls being denied that same chance, just because someone somewhere decided the topic was too much.

What those people don’t realize is that silencing a book doesn’t silence the truth it carries. If anything, it makes the need for it louder. And if there’s one thing Speak taught me, it’s that staying silent only protects the wrong people.

I don’t know if I can change the fact that this book is banned in some schools. But I do know that I will never stop speaking up about why it matters. And maybe—hopefully—others will question it too.

Because every girl deserves to know that her voice matters.

Blurb: 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: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. In Laurie Halse Anderson’s powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.