Macmillan Partners with RAINN for Matching Donation Campaign in Support of Classic YA Novel

In support of New York Times best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson’s classic young adult novel, Speak, its publisher, Macmillan, is teaming up with RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) to raise funds for programs to end sexual violence.

The campaign, nicknamed #Speak4RAINN, will be launched on April 2 (coinciding with the National Sexual Assault and Awareness Day of Action) and will run through April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Macmillan will match up to $10,000 in donations and will also be sponsoring a “How Speak Spoke to Me” creative contest, signed book giveaways, a manuscript review, and a chance for the school that raises the most money to win a visit from Anderson.

Speak, originally published in 1999 by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers and now also available in paperback from Square Fish (both imprints of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group), tells the story of Melinda, a teen who struggles to find her voice after being raped. The novel has received many awards and accolades, including being named a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, a National Book Award Finalist, and an Edgar Allen Poe Award Finalist.

RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, and it operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE and online.rainn.org) in partnership with more than 1,100 local rape crisis centers nationwide. RAINN also offers programs to prevent sexual violence, help victims, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. Anderson, a longtime RAINN supporter, is committed to furthering the group’s goal of giving every victim of sexual violence a voice.

For more information about the campaign, visit http://rainn.org/speak.

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