Shout

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 her life and calls women to action through 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.

‘Shout is Anderson’s reckoning; it follows a hurting cry to the universe that turns into a hard-won path to healing and ultimately unfolds into a powerful call to action...With Speak, Anderson opened the door for more novels exploring the deeply felt and deeply personal aftermath of sexual violence. Shout serves as both a testament to the life-altering, lifesaving impact of these types of stories—and as an urgent and brutal reminder of their ongoing necessity.' New York Times

‘[P]erhaps the most significant contribution of any memoir of childhood sexual assault and abuse...Her book is a powerful testament that bears witness not just to her own pain, and the pain of others similarly abused, but also to the power of speaking persistently, time and time again, about topics that most people don’t want to hear.' LA Review of Books