speak

1.      BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Laurie Halse. 1999. speak. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 0-374-37152-0 

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Melinda Sordino is a new freshman in high school, a time she would have looked forward to, before this past summer, when one party, where she and her best friend Rachel got drunk and Melinda was raped, changed her life forever. She never told anyone. Now she is alone, an outcast, her friends having shunned her and even strangers calling her names and jostling her in the hall. She cannot talk with her distant, busy, working parents. Tormented by the memory of the past summer, she attempts various ways to try to escape the memories, hiding out in a hall closet she has staked out for herself, silence, dark thoughts, chewing her lips, and art class. But it is not until she is inspired by a fellow classmate to stand up and speak that she finds the courage to take steps to protect Rachel and let others know what happened and find healing in her own life.   

3.      CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In her first novel, Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing accurately depicts the pressures, boredom, and distress today’s teenagers face in making the transition from middle school to high school and beyond.  With frankness and honesty she discusses issues such as cliquishness, exclusion, loneliness, suicide, cutting, underage drinking, individuality, athleticism, truancy, parental relationships, and rape all from the perspective of a freshman girl. Her words and feelings ring true, creating a believable and likable character in Melinda, a strong, resilient girl who perseveres through fear, anxiety and depression. Most readers will find some difficult aspect of their high school experience expressed in this story, some tongue-in-cheek, others with humor, such as the popularity contests, the signing of yearbooks, the desire for a snow day or a “mental health” day, finding someone to sit with in lunch, and the wide variety of teachers and the burdens they place on the students. She fleshes out the characters of teachers, principal, students, parents, and Melinda in terms teenagers can relate to, as the story progresses through Melinda’s freshman year in high school. She accurately depicts the maelstrom of teenage moods and feelings and very eloquently provides guidance to teenagers to speak up for themselves. She also accurately describes life in Central New York, especially the grey, seemingly unending winter and the longing for spring. She uses symbolism to demonstrate the rebirth and growth of Melinda’s spirit in the spring of her freshman year, when she finally finds her voice and is able to reach out and trust an old friend and a teacher enough to finally share her story. The chapters are short and correspond to a specific issue in Melinda’s life, spanning her freshman year, showing the evolution of her thoughts and ability to trust people again. 

Speak is a powerful, moving work of contemporary realistic fiction that will connect with teenage readers facing the trials of high school and hopefully encouraging those who have traumatically lost their voice to find a trusted someone with whom they can speak. 

4. AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

National Book Award Finalist

Michael L. Printz Honor book

American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

SCBWI Golden Kite Award

YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults

Starred review from Booklist: “Melinda's sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers.”

Starred review from The Horn Book: “An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from first word to last.”

Review from Kirkus Reviews: “A frightening and sobering look at the cruelty and viciousness that pervade much of contemporary high school life, as real as today's headlines. At the end of the summer before she enters high school, Melinda attends a party at which two bad things happen to her. She gets drunk, and she is raped. Shocked and scared, she calls the police, who break up the party and send everyone home. She tells no one ...” 

Review from Publishers Weekly: “a stunning first novel," in which Ms. Anderson "uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager…Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy…The book's overall gritty realism and Melinda's hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired.”

5. CONNECTIONS

*Listen to Laurie Halse Anderson read her poem, Listen, that was written in reaction to the tens of thousands letters and emails she has received in the ten years since the book was originally published. Find it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic1c_MaAMOI

The words of the poem can be found along with a discussion guide for the book at: http://www.pointofviewbooks.com/pdf/speakguide.pdf

*Watch the DVD of the movie made from the book, Speak (2005).  

*Other books by Laurie Halse Anderson:

Catalyst. ISBN 0142400017

Prom. ISBN 0142405701

Twisted. ISBN 0142411841

Wintergirls. ISBN 014241557X

*Other books about young adults dealing with transitions:

Brashares, Ann. Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series. ISBN 0385734247

Dessen, Sarah. Just Listen. ISBN 0142410977

Dessen, Sarah. The Truth about Forever. ISBN 0142406252

Dessen, Sarah. That Summer.  ISBN 0142401722

Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. ISBN  1442403438