Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Bibliography
Anderson, Laurie Halse. SPEAK. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0142407325.

Plot Summary
Melinda begins her freshman year of high school barely speaking to anyone because of an event over the summer that emotionally scarred her. She spends her freshman year trying to reconcile what happened at the seniors’ party over the summer with the way her life has dramatically changed in the course of a year.

Critical Analysis
The story is beautifully told by Anderson. She allows the reader to discover the reasons behind Melinda’s muteness and decide for themselves which side they want to take. Anderson presents the rape from Melinda’s perspective which makes it feel like an invasion against the readers themselves. Melinda is an outcast in her school because she doesn’t want to conform to the other kids in her school because of the incident with Andy. I think what Anderson does best is present a story that is not centered around the incident, but the aftermath of it. This makes the trauma Melinda goes through much more relatable. I think readers that may be the same age as Melinda understand what it’s like to have an event that so shakes you that you don’t even know how to handle it. Because Anderson is able to go at it from the angle of an outcast because of something beyond her own doing, the book is a success in bringing readers a story of having to deal with issues as well as finding hope from it.

I think Mr. Freeman is one of the most rewarding parts of the book. At such a time in a child’s life, I think they need an adult figure to look up to. Because Melinda’s parents seem to be more and more absent from Melinda’s daily activities, Mr. Freeman is the adult in Melinda’s life that pushes her to express herself which she does through art. Eventually, Mr. Freeman is the one Melinda tells her story to and she is finally able to move on.

The tone is dark, but rightly so. As Melinda has to deal with this secret, she is not able to move on and be a happy teenager until her pain has been absolved. The title of the book is interesting. While Melinda just does not talk for part of the book, it is because her pain has manifested itself into physical silence. The title reflects not only Melinda’s need to speak about the incident in order to move on, but her inability to speak. In the newest cover of the book, there is a face with a tree over it. The leaves go over the face, but there mouth is noticeably absent.

Awards and Review Excerpts
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
ALA Top-10 Best Book for Young Adults
ALA Quick Pick for Young Adults
Edgar Allen Poe Award finalist
IRA Young Adult Choice
Junior Library Guild Selection
Michal L. Printz Honor Book (American Library Association)
National Book Award Finalist
New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
New York Times Bestseller List
SCBWI Golden Kite Award
YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults

“In a stunning first novel, Anderson uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager. Divided into the four marking periods of an academic year, the novel, narrated by Melinda Sordino, begins on her first day as a high school freshman. No one will sit with Melinda on the bus. At school, students call her names and harass her; her best friends from junior high scatter to different cliques and abandon her. Yet Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy. A girl at a school pep rally offers an explanation of the heroine's pariah status when she confronts Melinda about calling the police at a summer party, resulting in several arrests. But readers do not learn why Melinda made the call until much later: a popular senior raped her that night and, because of her trauma, she barely speaks at all. Only through her work in art class, and with the support of a compassionate teacher there, does she begin to reach out to others and eventually find her voice. Through the first-person narration, the author makes Melinda's pain palpable: "I stand in the center aisle of the auditorium, a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special." Though the symbolism is sometimes heavy-handed, it is effective. The ending, in which her attacker comes after her once more, is the only part of the plot that feels forced. But the book's overall gritty realism and Melinda's hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired.” – Publisher’s Weekly

“Anderson’s words often seem gleaned directly from a confused teenager’s soul.” – Audiofile

Connections
Read other young adult novels by Anderson. Catalyst, in particular, is set in the same community as Speak and focuses on what happens to Kate when her world suddenly spins out of her control.

Watch the 2004 film version of Speak. Starring Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, it is a great movie version of the novel.