"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.

1999 National Book Award Finalist
1999 BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
2000 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Fiction
2000 Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year
2000 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
2000 Printz Honor Book
2000 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults
2000 Fiction Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
2000 Edgar Allan Poe Best Young Adult Award Finalist
2001 New York Times Paperback Children's Best Seller
2005 New York Times Paperback Children's Best Seller