War and Speech....Mean Girls meets the debate team!

War and Speech by acclaimed children's playwright Don Zolidis follows protagonist Sydney Williams, a shy, anti-social, teenager who has lived her entire life by the phrase that "not everyone can be a winner." Sydney especially resonates with this saying when her white collared dad gets sent to prison for embezzlement, and she is forced to move with her minimum wage working mother into a small, crummy apartment. Faced with a new school, Eaganville High promises Sydney a new start. Except, unlike most schools, Eaganville is ruled by the school's debate team, whom of which take the quote "winner takes all"quite too seriously. Sydney is soon befriended by a group of fellow misfits, each of whom has been personally victimized by the speech team. It turns out Sydney is the perfect plant to take down the speech team from within.

With the help of her co-conspirators, Sydney throws herself into making Nationals in speech, where she will be poised to topple the corrupt regime. But what happens when Sydney realizes she actually has a shot at . . .winning? Sydney lost everything because of her dad's obsession with being on top. Winning at speech might just be her ticket out of a life of loserdom. Can she really walk away from that?

A book equal parts hilarious as it is heartwarming, War and Speech can probably convince just about anybody to join their school's debate team. A light, fun, entertaining read, Don Zolidis once again shows off his comedic chops while creating a riveting journey with a protagonist you can't help but fall in love with.

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