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Shout
320 pages
A blistering, poetic roar of survival that shatters silence and demands to be heard.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir-in-verse feels like standing in the center of a storm of righteous, long-overdue anger. The pacing is propulsive, driven by the rhythmic, beating heart of free verse that refuses to look away from the ugliest parts of trauma and systemic failure. It is an incredibly raw and heavy experience, yet ultimately cathartic, wrapping the reader in a fierce embrace of solidarity. The narrative voice is both deeply vulnerable and fiercely unapologetic, charting a course from the suffocating silence of youth to the roaring empowerment of adulthood. It will deeply resonate with survivors, feminists, and anyone who appreciates poetry that acts as both a personal exorcism and a rallying cry for a broken world.
- Mood
- raw
- cathartic
- heavy
- empowering
- Tone
- fierce
- vulnerable
- unflinching
- righteous
- urgent
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- reclaiming one's voice · surviving trauma · systemic misogyny · healing through art · collective rage
- The writing
- Written in sharp, rhythmic free verse that cuts straight to the bone with visceral imagery and unapologetic directness.
- The arc
- Moves from the suffocating silence of buried trauma to a roaring, unapologetic demand for justice and healing.
- Who it's for
- Readers seeking a fierce, feminist memoir-in-verse that transforms deep personal pain into a rallying cry for change.
Content notes
- sexual assault
- rape
- trauma
- PTSD
- misogyny
About the book
Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she's never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society's failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #MeToo and #TimesUp, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. Shout speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice-- and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.
When she was thirteen years old, Anderson was a shy, bookish girl who was raped by a boy she trusted. She has since become known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed in the years since, she has written a poetry memoir that shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she's never written about before. -- adapted from jacket
Description from Open Library.
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The Way I Used To BeAmber SmithA raw, aching portrait of a girl fracturing under the weight of a secret, and the slow, nonlinear journey to piece herself back together.
Asking for itKate HardingA blunt, fiercely intelligent dissection of systemic misogyny that balances sobering research with a galvanizing call to action.
October mourningLesléa NewmanA haunting, deeply felt cycle of verse that gives voice to the silent witnesses of a tragic hate crime.