It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology-what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish.

Necessary for every home, school, and public library.Ī miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.Įli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. It’s a strong example of how lived experience shapes art and an important book for the #MeToo movement. Readers new to Anderson will find this accessible. The verse flows like powerful music, and Anderson's narrative voice is steady and direct: “We should teach our girls / that snapping is OK, / instead of waiting / for someone else to break them.” The poems range in length from a pair of two-line stanzas to several pages. In Part 3, she wraps up with poems about her family roots.

She recalls some of the many stories she’s heard during school visits from boys and girls who survived rape and sexual abuse and calls out censorship that has prevented some speaking engagements. Part 2 takes readers through her journey as a published author and National Book Award finalist. Part 1 begins with her father’s lifelong struggle as a World War II veteran, her childhood and rape at 13 by a boy she liked, the resulting downward spiral, her recovery during a year as an exchange student in Denmark, and the dream that gave her Melinda, Speak’s (1999) protagonist.

The award-winning author, who is also a rape survivor, opens up in this powerful free-verse memoir, holding nothing back. “This is the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself a new one.”

Laurie halse anderson shout