Shout

Shout

YA/adult herstory
"Finding my courage to speak up twenty-five years after I was
raped, writing Speak, and talking with countless survivors of sexual
violence made me who I am today.
This book shows how that happened...
This is the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself
a new one."
When I read the introduction to Laurie Halse Anderson's memoir,
Shout, from which I have just quoted, I couldn't put it down. You may
be familiar with her books. Her voice in them is emotionally
authentic and powerful. Now she gives us a picture of the person
behind the voice and the world that allowed her much younger self to
be assaulted and silenced.
In Shout Anderson shares with readers the dysfunctionalities of
her childhood household presided over by a father scarred by memories
of the concentration camps he had helped liberate and the buddy who
was killed in front of him when he was only 18, the lack of
information that caused her to not know what was happening when she
got her first period, the boy who forcibly raped her 13-year-old self
and lit a cigarette and walked away, his violent, alcohol fueled
death, and the lingering aftermath of it all. She also shows the
forces that didn't allow her to entirely give up.
If you're anything like me, Shout will anger you, inspire you,
and help you cope with whatever hardships life has thrown your way.
On a purrrsonal note, Tuesday night when Christina and I led a 45
minute class exercise it went super well. We started with drag. I
performed to Only The Good Die Young (which is excellent for drag.
I'll probs do it for the spring semester drag show.) I talked a little
about how my first drag performance helped me feel good about my
gender fluidity before I even knew the term. Everyone was all rowdy
and cheering. Then we split the class into three groups and gave each
a question. Then there was a discussion. It was so much fun. And
how often does one get a chance to perform drag as part of a class
assignment?
Adam came by last night and Eugene and I really enjoyed his visit.
Today, where I have no classes or work, I'm taking myself a little
field trip in the opposite direction of campus. Goodwill is giving
Club Goodwill members 25% off donated goods. :-)
Great big shouts go out to my classmates (especially Christina) and
our professor and Adam.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod