War and Speech is a realistic fiction book written by Don Zolidis. At the beginning of the book, Sydney Williams has just moved to Eaganville in the middle of the school year. At this school, popularity is lopsided-with the Speech and Debate kids at the top. On the first day, Sydney is lucky enough to make some friends-but that can’t be done without also making enemies as well-the Speech and Debate team. After Sydney faces humiliation by one of its members, she is determined to bring down the Speech and Debate team-once and for all. With her new gang of friends, she comes up with a foolproof plan evolving their humiliation at Nationals, but first she has to secure a spot on the team. Will she be successful or is this plan going to fall flat on its face?
I thought that this book was pretty good as I was able to finish it all in one sitting, so I am going to give it a four-star rating. The only thing that disappointed me about it was the amount of profanity throughout the novel, which is honestly not my cup of tea. That’s why I would only recommend this book to someone who is 14 or older. The most interesting aspect of this book was having an entirely flipped high school experience, with the “nerds and geeks” being the most popular. This is not typical in most high schools, so I loved how the story made that come to life. Some thoughts I had right after reading is that this book was pretty well-researched, which is always great when authors write about a specific activity or event. I know a fair amount about Speech and Debate through friends and this author incorporated a lot of the terms and language from Speech and Debate into this novel. In summation, War and Speech is a pretty good realistic fiction book that I would recommend to anyone who loves to read about new experiences, especially in the high school setting. Happy Reading!