Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. NY: Penguin

Speak begins with a description of Melinda’s lonely and disconsolate stage. She lacks friends and feels like an outcast, for she is rejected by those who she considered her friends simply because she called the cops at Kyle Rodger’s party. To cope with the fact that she is being treated like a leper, Melinda refers to nail and lip biting. She not only is having a terrible time being rejected by her ex-friends, but she is also mistreated by most of her teachers who forgot that their job was to inspire their students. She even finds a hiding place: an abandoned janitor’s closet. Her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, is the only one who treats her with respect and sees how valuable and talented she is. His art class is one of the few places where she feels safe. Melinda does hang out with a new student, Heather. Heather is extremely interested in belonging to a group and developing friendships. Her plan to be popular or accepted fails because the Marthas, the popular cool group), boss her around and treat her like a maid.

Melinda feels disgusted when she is trying to help Heather put up posters to promote a canned food drive, and IT (Andy Evans), whispers to her reminding Melinda of what he did to her.  Yes, how he took advantage of her and forced her to have sex.  She simply runs away to avoid facing her enemy. Now, because she called the police asking for help and ruined everyone’s time at the party, she is hated by every single student in Merryweather High School.

 The Marthas, the girls in charge of the canned drive, are not satisfied with Heather’s work on the canned drive. They feel she is doing a terrible job and her posters stink!  

One day, during lunch time, Heather breaks up her “friendship” with Melinda stating they are very different people with different interests. We know that they were not the best of friends, but she was all Melinda had. To make things worse, it was around the time of love and friendship, Valentine’s Day. Melinda desperately wanted to be liked by someone. Her depression and loneliness cause her to have low grades and her skipping doesn’t help her case either. She is placed in a behavior plan to prevent her from being tardy or skipping class all together.  

Melinda is interested in David Petrakis, her lab partner. He invited her to her house, but the scared Melinda turned down the offer. David also offered her legal advice after Mr. Neck, her teacher, gave her a D for not reading her assignment to the entire class. He might have also flirted with her a little, but since Melinda is so affected with what happened with IT, she wasn’t very sure.  

Melinda enjoys a moment of glory when she almost beats one of the most talented athletes in tennis, Nicole (also ex-friend). She savored it so much that she decided to ask her dad to practice with her. Finally, something good happened to her!

Heather, suddenly reappears in Melinda’s life. She visits her to complain about how mean the Marthas are. She also comes to ask for a favor; Heather wants Melinda to help decorate Route 11 Holiday Inn for prom. Melinda wants to tell her that she is insane, cold-hearted, and self-centered. But she didn't. Instead, she tells her she will be busy. Heather leaves without saying goodbye. Standing up to Heather empowered her! She decides to talk to Rachel, her ex-best friend who is now dating IT! Melinda sees her in the library and confesses to her that she didn’t call the cops to ruin the party. She tells her she was raped. Rachel is immediately affected by her friend’s suffering. But the empathy halts when Melinda tells her it was her boyfriend, Andy Evans, who raped her. Rachel accuses her of being jealous of her popularity and storms off. But, rumors are going around that they had a big argument during prom night because Andy was touching her all over. This enraged Andy! He traps her in her janitor closet and tries to take advantage of her AGAIN! But this time, it is different. She fights back and says, “NOOOOO!”  Melinda returns to school the next day and trusts her art teacher by telling him what happened to her.

Laurie Halse Anderson, the author, kept the reader entertained throughout the entire book. But, she says it herself, “Yes, I know I didn’t wrap up everything at the end of Speak” (Anderson, 1999, p.199). There are unanswered questions that she lists that students can answer. Students can add that she made friends, that Rachele apologized, or that she became a motivational speaker and helped girls who had gone through the same thing. They can use their creativity and present different endings.

Speak touches different topics that are controversial. One of Melinda’s teachers, Mr. Neck, starts an immigration debate. He states that American borders should have been closed in 1900. David disagrees with his approach. Teachers can divide students into two groups: those who are in favor of immigration and those who are against it. Students can visit the library, use available databases, and read books to support their argument. After gathering their resources, they can debate the topic.

Anderson has written numerous books. These titles include: Chains, Turkey Pox, No Time for Mother's Day, The Big Cheese on Third Street, and several others. In 2009, she was given the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.”  

Laurie Halse Anderson. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2018, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/authors/laurie-halse-anderson/