Speak

What an amazing, thought-provoking book! It's hard to write a review - all you can think of is "Squeee!"

Why? This question ran through my mind as I read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. For example, why did Anderson portray her main character Melinda as a sarcastic and therefore sometimes unlikeable teenager? Or, why did Anderson keep readers in the dark until partway through her novel about the incident that changed Melinda’s life? Now that I’ve finished reading Speak, I agree with Anderson’s choices but have yet another question. How did Anderson write so smartly about teenagers and high school, while also being timeless? Speak was published in 1999, but it pulled me back to the 1980’s. Despite the lack of references to cell phones and IPods, I think my adolescent siblings will also find themselves in its pages. Speak is a problem-centered novel, which contains enough depth to also be simply good fiction.

For about half of Speak, I didn’t know whether to like or dislike Melinda. Near the start of a new school, her only friend announces that the two of them must plan goals. Her friend draws four boxes, one for each marking period, and then writes “Goals” in each box. What is Melinda’s goal? “To go home and take a nap.” As the year progresses, Melinda starts skipping classes and blowing off homework. Even though I quickly realized that Melinda’s misbehaviors were arising from depression, her apathy and bitterness make her sometimes unpleasant. Melinda refers to all of her teachers except her art instructor by labels rather than their names. Despite once being a good student, Melinda makes this quip about social studies: “Who knew there had been a war with the whole world?” In the same vein, while Melinda apparently used to have lots of popular friends, she now has negative things to say about most everyone. At the same time, Melinda is achingly vulnerable; she describes herself as having the wrong hair, wrong clothes, and wrong attitude. It’s difficult to dislike someone who is so insecure. Melinda is starkly honest. She admits that she could better handle Nicole’s popularity if Nicole were a bitch, because then she could hate her. Melinda is also surprisingly perceptive. When Valentine’s Day rolls around, she notes that in middle school it was “easier to floss with barbed wire than admit you like someone” whereas in high school kids kiss right in front of everyone. If I’d been as savvy as her in high school, maybe I’d have gotten hurt less. When Melinda eventually starts tackling her problems, she shows herself capable of helping her parents, taking an interest in school, and even of being thoughtful of her peers. If it weren’t for her depression, perhaps Melinda could be a pretty nice kid.

The problem is that for about half of Speak, I don’t understand how Melinda became this way. She used to have friends, but now for some reason they all hate her. They glare at her, give her the silent treatment, and refuse to sit next to her. When Melinda finds a forgotten janitorial closet that like her has no purpose or name, she decides that it would make the a perfect hiding spot. Melinda even figures her parents would have been divorced by now if she hadn’t been born. After all, she is not pretty, smart, or athletic, but just another “ordinary drone like them dressed in secrets and lies”. All this self-pity could become nauseating, given that we don’t know the reason for it, except there are all of Melinda’s memories about the better times. She describes a previous Halloween when her circle of friends all dressed up as witches. There are even funny moments in the present, such as when her dad talks to a turkey hotline lady, makes a turkey soup, and eventually tosses dumps the failed meal in the trash and orders pizza. When Melinda lets down her guard, there are also some very sweet moments when she finds she is not completely alone.

I was surprised to learn that Speak was Anderson’s first book. In less capable hands, Speak could have mired in negativiity. I have seen this happen in far too many other young adult novels. Or it could have turned into a self-help book guised as fiction. I have seen this happen in many television movies. Instead through Melinda’s commentaries on high school life, we see Melinda evolve not just as person dealing with a problem, but also as an adolescent learning the repercussions of speaking up but also of staying silent. In less capable hands, Speak could also have failed to deliver a satisfying end to the mystery running throughout it about what happened to Melinda. Anderson deftly depicts Melinda’s descent into mental hell through her struggles in art class. Melinda’s art teacher Mr. Freeman gives each student a piece of paper with the name of an object, which they’ll spend the rest of the year trying to turn into art. Melinda picks: tree. At first she wants to throw it back, thinking it is too easy. She isn’t allowed. As the year progresses, she finds that expressing her emotions through a tree is incredibly difficult. Through this symbolism, Speak shows the journey that Melinda takes in trying to repress and then later reveal of an event that happened to one night.

Speak is a well-crafted. Anderson undertook the challenge of introducing a disenfranchised teenager and convincing readers to like her. How much easier that challenge would have been if Anderson had revealed from the start what had happened to Melinda. Anderson also undertook the challenge of revealing details about the events of that August night, only as Melinda was ready to deal with them. How much easier Anderson’s challenge would have been if she’d simply told a straightforward story about how Melinda came to terms with the fact that bad things can happen. That she instead took the higher road, readers are blessed with a complex and richly textured story that is still applauded over ten years after its publication. Anderson is still writing problem novels. Speak is an impressive introduction to her writings.

This was a sad book for me. I have read my share of books with ostracized main protags but Speak really taps into the realistic aspects of a party gone wrong and the horrible outcome that plagues Melinda.

High school is harsh. Drama is a shark in the ocean of teenagers. Unfortunately, Melinda feels the wrath of the shark attack. The swarm of loneliness that sinks inside her when everyone abandons her for calling the cops at the party she happens to unfortunately attend.

Once you read this book, you can truly see why it accumulated so many literary awards in the first place. Laurie Halse Anderson creates Melinda, a realistic teenager who combats abuse, loneliness, and fear in a sanctuary that condemns her for a crime that was a matter-of-fact cry for help from Melinda.

For sometimes, fear clouds the truth, hides it from the world and is unseen. High school drama is the shark, and the truth is attacked by those masses of razor teeth.

Reader reviewed by jmj

·         Summarize the book and relate the author's main point, or thesis. (Somewhere early in the paper, identifies the author briefly.) [The authors point in the book was to show a story of a young girl who was raped. The author was trying to give the message that rape is bad and should not happen to anyone. He shows the story of how it can ruin someones life in one second.]

·         Describe the author's viewpoint and purpose for writing; note any aspects of the author's background that are important for understanding the book. [He wanted people to see how it could happen even when youre in high school. Also wanted people to see the emotional and physical burden that it brings up on them and that they never forget what happens. This was also done so that people know you can move on after something like this and that there is still hope out there.]

·         Note the most important evidence the author presents to support his or her thesis.  [She went to a party and was invited in the woods by a jock and he raped her. She tried calling 911 but all she did was get a party busted and more people to hate her. She becomes very depressed and stands offish and everyone can tell. She began to do things she never did, skipping school&etc. Then he tries to rape her again but she screams and someone sees and finally has a little bit of proof that he has done something.

·         Evaluate the author's use of evidence, and describe how he or she deals with counter evidence. (See pp. 18-19 for a discussion of counter evidence.) [He didnt use much evidence in the book besides the girl getting raped and Melinda screaming and her friend coming. Other than that she has no proof that he raped her or anything because she was scared to call and report it. Luckily he got what he deserved.]

·         Is the book's argument convincing? If so why, if not, why not. Cite examples from the text. [Because of how they were in the janitors closet and she was screaming no and held up the glass to his throat. To me that shows me that there was real emotion going on in the story. Also its convincing because most people dont tell anyone because they are scared of what will happen or what wont happen.]

·         Compare this book with other books or articles you have read on the same subject. [I havent read any other books about this subject other than this one. I would like to say that this book seems real and is relatable in many ways to people in these kinds of situations. Not many books grasp the concept of what really is going on, make the situation not as a big of a deal]

·         Conclude with a final evaluation of the book. You might discuss who would find this book useful and why. [I love this book and the story that it gives because it could help people out. There are many people who can benefit from this book and the first people are rape victims. Maybe they will see this has an opportunity to tell the truth and be free from the secret.]

Reader reviewed by Kayla

I loved Melinda's voice-all that darkly funny sarcasm.  She was so relatable.  Anderson captured the teenage mind perfectly.  So many of Melinda's descriptions of high school and the students were dead on.  I remember thinking those exact same things when I was her age.

I had seen the movie before reading the book and I think it was adapted just right by using the voice overs (which is pretty much the only way they could have done it considering Melinda almost never speaks).  I'm glad I knew the whole story before reading the book because otherwise the suspense of waiting to find out what had happend to Melinda would have killed me.  I hate being kept in the dark.

I liked the movie a little bit better than the book. Firstly, the parents were more likeable-they came across as more quirky than neglectful. Secondly, art seemed to have a greater importance to Melinda in the movie than it did in the book. It was important in the book too, don't get me wrong. It was what helped Melinda sort through her emotions and find the courage to speak up. But in the movie, it seemed to hold a deeper meaning for her, something more lasting that she would continue doing throughout her life.

Reader reviewed by Brandy Alexander

Summary:

Melinda Sordino is raped at a summer party prior toher freshman year of high school. She calls the police for help, and the party ends up being raided. Everyone find's out she's the one who called the police. And by her first day of high school her friends,a dn everyone else shun her. Throughout the year she struggles to keep a friend, make a friend, keep up in school, and deal with the fact that she was raped.

Opinion:

To be completely honest, I did not enjoy this book. I felt that it was typical, predictable, lousy, and unoriginal. I feel like the storylibe is over used and then fabricated, which makes it worse. Also, I felt like her writing was forceful, like she had to forcefully pull the words out one by one, and over thought it as well. This is not meant to insult Laurie Halse Andersn nor her novel, it's ust my genuine opinion. I do beleve she has the potential as a professional writer to write better than she has.

Reader reviewed by hhs

I recently read the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book was good but wasn't very powerful. It could've been more exciting in most parts. The book was very predictable and could've used more thoughts throughout the book. I felt as if the book was very true when it comes to the life of a high school girl and most high school girls would connect. It deals with a very controversial topic. I think this book would've appealed to me more if not for the style the author wrote it in. I'd only recommend it for either High School or Middle School girls due to the main theme. 

Reader reviewed by lisa_sps

Warning: This book will make you cry and laugh! Make sure you have a box of tissues and a glass of water next to you while you are reading it!

Spoller Alert

Melinda Sordino (her last name is an Italian Word that means mute or deaf ) starts her freshman year at high school the worst way possible: she has no friends and most of the school hates her because she call the cops at a party where teenagers where drinking!

While the story continues we start to get some inside of Melindas troubled familie, and past! We soon discover that Melinda was rape at the party and she never confessed it making her stop talking!

Melindas, life  is always getting more complicated: she stops talking and doesnt tell anyone one about the attack , her only friend abandoned her, her rapist  is a senior at her high school, all adults in her life (except her art teacher) are mad with her and grounded her because her marks are low,&

But though Melindas life is falling apart her sense of humor (though sometimes a little morbid) never disappears providing the reader with sarcastic comments about her high school life!

  I love this book, is amazingly strong and real and I totally understand Melindas feelings!
The writing is simple and everyone can understand the message that Laurie Halse Anderson is

passing: if something bad happened to you SPEAK UP !

10/10

 

Reader reviewed by Morgan Cap.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a novel about Melinda Sordino, a freshman student. She is seemingly normal on the outside, but hides a dark secret that she cannot tell anyone. If I told you what exactly happened to her, it would ruin the twist ending. Her situation is relatable to lots of teens, so that's one of the reasons that I loved this book. I could empathize with Melinda's feelings at many points, which made it a fast paced read that I finished in about two days because I just couldn't put it down. From the moment she begins high school, she's strange, an outcast. The art room is the only place where she feels safe and she pours her feelings out into her artwork. Melinda is such a complicated character- it seems for me that whenever I thought I had her figured out, something would happen in the book and I would have to rethink everything again. Laurie Halse Anderson's complex storytelling style and abrupt, short chapters lend a feeling of a narrator who doesn't quite have all her priorities straight in life, and it suits Melinda's character perfectly. One of my favorite parts was when rebellious Melinda decides to cut Spanish class, and literally, the chapter is 'I didn't go to Spanish today, so conjugate this: I cut class, you cut class, he, she, it cuts class, we cut class, they cut class, you all cut class.' Speak is wry, complex, thought provoking and just plain awesome. Read it, you'll be glad you did.

Reader reviewed by Bani

This book is so touching. It can be upsetting and unsettling yet very easy and engaging to read. It really makes you feel what it is like to be alone in the world, to be abandoned by the people you call friends because of something that wasn't at all your fault. This can sound like something frustrating to read- but to watch how the character overcomes the trials ahead of her is worth the while.